You Don't Pick Fate, Fate Picks You
by NyanWolfy
Summary: Scott was happy with her life. She worked at her grandparents' horse stables and had devoted her life to horses. Her perfect life was thrown in chaos when she ended up in a strange world with only her dog for company. To make things worse, a crazy old wizard showed up and told her she is to be the caretaker of ponies for a group of dwarves. OC story.
1. Chapter 1

**"What's meant to be will always find a way." ― Trisha Yearwood**

* * *

I stumbled for about the sixth time in the last two hours, only managing to stop myself from face-planting it by bracing my hand against a tree. With several muttered complaints under my breath, I straightened back up, brushing my hand against my skirt to clean it.

"Of all the luck! It's always forests, isn't it!" The only one that heard my exclamation was Edbert, who turned his head around and stared silently at me. "Whatcha looking at me like that for?" The dog's head tilted the side when I talked to him. "Can't smell or hear any signs of civilization yet? No? No. Okay."

Ed barked twice at me, turning around and walking off further into the forest. The meaning of his barks was clear – follow me or I'm leaving you behind. Usually with dog and owner, it was the other way around. But, Edbert and my relationship was… Unusual. We each had our boundaries, and we knew where we stood with each other. At the moment, I was lost in some forest, Gods knows where, and my best chance of getting out was Ed's nose.

Why was I lost in a forest? Fantastic question! I would very much have liked an answer to that question myself. I mean, my day did start off normal… Well, normalish.

* * *

I liked my job. Actually, I lie. I loved my job. Not many people can claim that they have a job that they enjoy doing day in and day out. I could, and I was only 19 - a rare thing to happen. I couldn't say that it was all my hard work that got me the job or anything. Nor was it luck. I was just born into the right family.

My grandparents owned a horse stable - originally a stable that only bred thoroughbreds for racing. Over time they changed it into multipurpose stable. They still bred racers, but they also started doing lessons, stable lease, pony rides at local events and everything in between.

As I grew up running around the stables and the horses, I always wished to be a jockey when I was old enough. It was a dream that I strived for. I was brought up like one by my grandfather, taught how to look after horses, how to ride, stable management, the whole deal. He didn't bring me up like some fancy little princess - I was shown how the world was and what I needed to do to help myself. I was taught proper manners, but I was also taught how to get things done by myself.

My grandfather was a preacher of tough love. If he wanted to teach me something, he didn't soften it. If I needed to learn how to take a fall off a horse, he would throw me on the craziest horse he had and told me how to land. I had to learn the rest by myself by trial and error – even if it risked my health and welfare in the meantime. He also took the whole "_Skin or swim_" saying very, very literal.

And no one could have saved me when I swore in front of my grandfather or grandmother. They were into all the old customs and manners that they were taught as kids. For example, addressing people older than you as "Miss", "Mr." or "Mrs.". If I swore in front of them, I would be forced to eat a tablespoon of mustard to wash my mouth out. If I ever stepped way out of line, or did something really stupid, I would be introduced to the belt. I learnt how to behave pretty quickly.

Imagine mine and grandfather's disappointment when I kept growing… and growing… and growing a little bit more. I ended up 5'7 and big boned – way too tall and heavy to be a proper jockey. I wasn't some petite little woman. I was a tall woman with broad shoulders and muscles. No part of physic looked rather much feminine, other than my chest. I wasn't a model of beauty, I was me and that was all I needed to be for my grandfather and grandmother.

So, when I was 15 and still hadn't slowed down my growth, I changed my mind as to what I wanted to do. If I couldn't ride the race horses, I would breed them and manage the stables. I could take over for my grandparents and continue all their hard work. I knew most of what I needed to do, and what I didn't know already, my grandfather could teach me.

And that led me to where I was the day that everything went wrong. As it happens every year, the renaissance fair was back in town and we were doing pony rides. My grandparents had asked me to take two of our quietest ponies to the fair to do pony rides.

So, to get into the spirit, I dressed up in a white chemise, a black and red vertical stripped laced bodice and a long black skirt that reached the ground. My grandmother had made the outfit for me because she thought it'd be good for me to get more involved in the fair. I still had a pair of breeches and riding boots under my skirt to keep myself comfortable, but at least I looked the part. It was the same thing I wore last year, but last year I had my grandfather with me to help. This year I was on my own. I'd been to many events by myself with the two ponies I'd picked. I knew them like the back of my hand, so I didn't think that I'd have any problems today.

So, off we went, the two ponies in the float, Edbert riding shotgun and me driving. Edbert was my best friend, as weird as that sounded. When you devote your life to horses, you don't have much of a social life. I was also home-schooled, so my social interaction mostly occurred with other adults or a few of the students that came to our stables. And even then, I had to be all business like around them.

So, I ended up with a dog as a best friend. Not just any dog though, Ed was an Australian kelpie. Chocolate brown with tan marks on his chest, muzzle, ears, stomach, eyebrows and a splash of white on his chest.

I'd rescued him from the local animal shelter a few years back, his pervious family gotten rid of him because he had too much energy for them. They kept him locked up in their small backyard all day, and he got bored so he dug lots of holes. They didn't want him doing that, and they weren't willing to walk him every day to get him to stop digging, so they dumped him at the shelter.

I'd fallen in love him the moment I'd walked past his cage and saw him neurotically chasing his tail around and around. The poor thing had more energy than he knew what to do with, and no one had even bothered to get him to use it constrictively. I took him home with me and spent months training and working with him until he was perfect partner to help me with the horses. Edbert loved helping me out around the stables to burn off his endless energy, whether it be rounding up horses, fetching things for me, or just following me around and annoying me. It didn't take long for us to become inseparable because behind all that energy was one of the smartest dogs I'd been fortunate enough to meet.

Unfortunately he came with the name Edbert when I'd adopted him at the shelter. I'd tried to rename him and he stubbornly refused to respond to anything but his original name. Eventually he also started responding to Ed or Eddy, but Edbert was his real name and he liked it that way.

When I'd pulled up at the fair with the ponies and Eddy, I'd opened the door to the truck, flung my legs out the door and slid off the seat. I expected my feet to touch solid ground, but they never touched anything. It was almost like a hole had opened up right outside my car door.

I let out a breathless shriek, as I felt myself falling, and I heard Edbert bark in the background as the hole swallowed me, everything going black just like a switch had been flicked.

* * *

I'd woken up thanks to Edbert who'd sat there, obsessively licking my face until I'd finally regained consciousness. It didn't take me long to noticed that it was only him and I around, in a forest, in the middle of nowhere. That realization was followed by a short mental break down, which included running like a headless chicken for 15 minutes whilst trying to find out where I was. All I saw was trees, trees and more trees. I couldn't find the car, or my ponies. My grandparents were going to kill me!

What was even worse was the type forest it was. None of the plant life or bird calls were what I was used too. I'd been trail riding with my horses a lot, and I'd learnt a lot about the local fauna so that I could keep my horses safe. Most of the plants and birds that were in the forest were not native to Australia where I lived. I knew straight away that something was seriously wrong.

I only stopped running around when I was hyperventilating so bad that my body refused to move anymore, causing me to flop to the ground and lay there, panting for breath. I'd been known to suffer from panic attacks in the past, so I tried to calm myself down before I set one off. Normally my trigger was being left alone without anyone around, thus the original reason that I'd gotten Ebert from the shelter. He was there to be constantly around so that I didn't suffer from my panic attacks.

Poor Edbert had followed me the whole time I'd run around like a hysterical woman, never letting me out of his sight until I dropped to the ground. He then came and sat next to me, staring at me with judging eyes. He knew that I was working myself up to a panic attack, and he was not impressed.

I looked up and my green eyes met Ed's brown eyes, both of us staring silently for a few seconds. I bit my lip before holding my arms up like a child. "Eddy… Where are we? You wouldn't let someone drug me and dump me in a forest, would you? What about the ponies! The car! The float! I've lost them! They're gunna kill m-" My rant was cut off when Edbert flop down onto my chest, his front legs and body sprawling themselves across my stomach, his head placing itself on my breasts.

I wrapped my arms tightly around him, closing my eyes as I tried to calm my breathing. He always did something like this when I had a panic attack - he was my protector. Without him I'd be a nervous wreck. Without him I'd be lost.

Edbert waited patiently, not moving while I regathered my composure and did my breathing exercises. It took a good 20 or 30 minutes before Edbert deemed me calm again and he wiggled out of my arms, standing back up. I sat up, running my hands through my hair to dust the leaves and twigs out of my wavy, shoulder length, auburn hair.

Once that was finished, I looked back to Edbert only to see his walking away from me into the trees. "OI!" I yelled after him, scrambling back to my feet. I stumbled over my long skirt before straightening up and jogging after my dog. "Wait would you! Where do you think you're going! Hey!"

And that is how I got lost in the forest.

* * *

"Edbert?" I questioned softly when the kelpie suddenly paused, his ears perking up. "What is it, boy?"

I didn't get a reply, my dog just took off at a sprint, not bothering to look back to see if I was following him or not. He knew I had to no choice but to follow him, so he just ran. I shoved down the urge to swear at him, hitching my skirt up around my knees before jogging after him. As hard as I tried, I couldn't keep up with Edbert when he was running at full speed, he disappeared pretty quickly and I had to try and follow him using the sounds of him crashing through the forest. My heartbeat picked up again and my chest started to ache at the thought of losing him in the forest.

"Edbert, when I catch up to you, I'm going to skin you alive! You hear me, mutt! Eddy! Don't leave me! I could get eaten by dingoes or-" My rant was cut off when I stumbled out of the forest and onto a dirt track.

I felt a rush of love for the dog wash over me, but it was quickly swallowed by apprehension when I saw Edbert standing not far from some old man dressed in grey. I dropped my skirt, straightening up and calling out, "Edbert, heel."

The dog did as he was asked, trotting over to sit by my side as I stared at the odd looking man that just happened to be on the only road in miles. I wasn't sure what creped me out more, his long grey beard, his pointy grey hat, his grey cloak, or his big staff. Edbert tended to be a good judge of character though, and if he wasn't reacting badly to this guy, then I should at least give him the benefit of the doubt.

"Ah, you have finally arrived. A bit later than I anticipated, but we shall still make it in time," the old man greeted, walking towards me.

"Uh, sorry… What? Who are you? Where are we?" I asked cautiously, glancing around the area.

"I have many names, but you may refer to me as Gandalf the Grey - and _we _are late," he stated as he walked straight past Eddy and I, continuing down the track.

"We? Late? For what? Where am I!" I asked again, reluctantly following him so I could try and get answers.

"For an adventure, my dear. One that you have been chosen to participate in," the cryptic old man said, not stopping his march.

"Wait a minute!" I protested, pausing in the middle of the path and crossing my arms over my chest. "I was meant to be doing pony rides today at the fair! I've lost my car, and the ponies… I've even lost the fairground which is no easy feat to do. I'm not stupid. That forest… Most of the planet life is nothing like what we get in Australia. The trees… The shrubs… The birds… I'm nowhere near home, am I?"

Gandalf paused, turning back to me. "No, you are longer near your home – you are close to Hobbition, Middle Earth. I was informed that the person I was looking for would appear here at this time. There is no doubt, you are the one I am looking for. Fate works in odd ways. It is up to you whether you accept this job or not. No one is forcing you to come. The road will be long and dangerous – even deadly – but the reward will be great."

I was silent for a few seconds as I tried to process what he had said, but all that seemed to process was our location. And it was not normal Earth – nowhere near it. "Middle Earth?" I squeaked.

"Yes," Gandalf answered. "Home to Elves, Dwarves, Hobbits, Humans, Orcs and many other creatures."

"Dwarves? Elves?" I questioned, picking up on two words that I recognized. "Oh. I'm defiantly not home anymore… Nowhere near it… Oh." I swayed on my feet. My gut told me that he wasn't lying.

"Are you feeling unwell?" the old man asked.

"No, no," I protested, shaking my head. "I'm okay… Just… Ah, yeah, I'm good. So, wait, what are you then?"

"I am a wizard," he answered. "Now come, we must make hast. We are already going to be late. Best not to leave Mr. Baggins with the dwarves too long."

"Who?"

* * *

It had been a long walk - the sun had faded by the time we reached signs of life. Gandalf, as cryptic as the old wizard was, had explained some things to me. I now knew what Hobbits were, and where they lived. I also knew that we were going to meet one such hobbit. He hadn't said much about this so called "Adventure" or my "Job", he reassured me that would all be explained when we got to the hobbit's house. I'd asked him if I could go back home somehow, and he had said, with some sympathy, that he'd didn't know. Yet.

"Ah, there they are!" Gandalf announced.

Edbert and I both looked ahead and noticed several small men on the lane ahead of us. If it wasn't for the fact that Gandalf had warned me that we were going to meet up with some dwarves, I would have been more shocked at their size. They weren't as small as I'd thought they would be, and they were built thicker. They also looked a lot rougher. I'd imagined little men in caps, but these dwarves were more human looking than that. They were also covered in weapons, which a tiny bit intimidating.

"Ah, Gandalf!" one of them called out loudly when they noticed us. I jumped, not expecting such a booming voice to come from such a small man. "It is good to see you!"

"And you," the wizard replied, walking up to them. Edbert and I stood back as Gandalf greeted all of them. I glanced at my dog who was staring at the men. He was probably confused at the full grown men that were the size of children. I felt bad that I had no way to explain it to him.

"Gandalf, who is your companion?" one of them finally asked and I drew in a nervous breath, staring at them all with wide eyes.

"Ah, this is…" the wizard trailed off and beckoned me forward. "My apologies, I never did get your name."

I hesitantly took a few steps forward, standing next to Gandalf. Short they may be, but they were daunting all the same. "I'm Scott. And the dog is Edbert. It's a pleasure to meet you all." The greeting was awkward because I had no idea what to say or how to act. In the end I just decided to use all the manners my Grandparents had taught me. To finish the greeting I grabbed my skirt and curtsied as best as I could while mentally praying that I was doing the right thing and not making a fool of myself. I was no longer home, and judging by the speech and clothes of the dwarves, I was in a time where proper manners were expected.

"Bofur," one of them pipped up, and I guessed that was his name, not a greeting. I glanced at him, taking note of his physical features. He had a cute little hat on, which I hoped would help me pick him out of a crowd. He then gestured to another dwarf near him, saying, "And this is Bifur." The said dwarf let out a grunt of some sort in greeting and I squinted my eyes in the dark… He had something stuck in his head. It looked like an axe head which made me queasy. Who walks around with an axe in their head!

"Bombur." This dwarf had the oddest looking beard. It was one giant braid that looped across his chest like a rope. He was also the chubbiest dwarf there, which made him look like a giant teddy.

"Gloin." Gloin had red hair and a long beard with several plats. He seemed pretty normal for dwarf standards.

"Oin." He had a grey beard and it was parted in the middle, each side styled to bend back towards his shoulders.

"Dori." Dori's hair was grey and he had a chin strap that his beard was placed in.

"Nori." The said dwarf bobbed his head in greeting. His beard was braided into three sections, and his hair was styled to have three separate points. The way it was styled reminded me of a leaf.

"Ori." The last one introduced himself and I was surprised at how soft and childish his voice was. He must have been the youngest of the bunch.

"At your service," they all chorused at one time, bowing politely.

"Now that introductions are complete, we must be on our way. No sense in being late," Gandalf instructed, walking off.

* * *

Gandalf led us to a large, round, green door that was in the side of a hill. The dwarves, noticing my apprehension, had left me alone and were talking amongst themselves as we had walked there. Edbert was acting surprisingly calm, and was happily smelling everything in reach without wandering too far away from me.

One of the dwarves, Bofur, stepped forward and rang the bell at the door to get the occupant's attention. The rest of the dwarves were crowding around the large round door, all pushing and shoving to try and get to the front. Gandalf, Ed and myself all stood back calmly, not keen on the idea of getting in-between all those shoving and pushing dwarves.

I blinked awkwardly when I heard a disgruntled voice from inside as someone made their way to the door, yanking it roughly open. It opened at exactly the wrong time. Bombur had shoved Gloin, who, in turn, had fallen into several of the dwarves, causing a chain reaction like dominoes. With a shocked cry, all of the dwarves fell into the house in a big pile, all groaning and complaining.

Gandalf bent down a bit so that he could peer into the door way, meeting the eyes of the owner.

"Gandalf…" The man that opened the door seemed to be in unsure how to react, although it didn't look like he was all that pleased. Mind you, once I got a close look at him, I couldn't blame him. The house owner was a hobbit - he looked exactly like how Gandalf had described hobbits. And this particular hobbit looked like he had been ready to finish up for the night and go to bed before we'd come along and interrupted.

I looked down at Eddy who was standing patiently next to me, and he looked up at me. I had a feeling that tonight was going to be interesting to say the least…

* * *

**So, I finished writing this story, and I had all the chapters posted... And then I got a few books about the Hobbit movie. I said I'd consider re-writing this story, and that's exactly what I'm doing. I messed up a lot of things in my writing that need to be fixed up in the re-write. For example, I didn't know that Bifur didn't actually talk in anything but grunts and Ancient Dwarvish. I also know a lot more about each individual dwarf, which will help me to add more character interaction. I'll also be working on Scott's character a lot more than before so that she stands out a lot more - rather than just being her normal meek self. **

**My updates won't be as quick as last time because I'm back at school now, but I should be updating regularly again. **

**So, yeah. :)**

**-NyanWolfy**


	2. Chapter 2

**"Happiness depends on oursleves." -Aristotle**

* * *

Chaos. It was the only word I could find that aptly described the situation going on around me at the moment. The dwarves were raiding and pillaging the poor hobbit's house while he tried desperately to stop them.

The first place most of them went to was to his pantry and they were grabbing anything they could get their hands on. The hobbit was running around the pantry trying to get them to put stuff back or leave it alone.

"Put that back! Put that back!" I could hear him protesting and I was still standing awkwardly in the main hall. After the dwarves had scrambled back up to their feet, they went straight to the food with the Hobbit chasing after them. A few of them even went to grab some more chairs to place around the table that all the food was being brought to.

Gandalf had ushered me through the doorway, both of us having to duck so that we wouldn't hit our heads. Eddy, who didn't feel like waiting outside, had followed me in. Now I was standing awkwardly to the side with only Edbert for company. Gandalf, the brave man, had walked calmly into the war zone and was helping the dwarves organize their meal.

I fiddled nervously with the sleeves of my white chemise whilst staring at the wooden floor. My grandparents had taught me enough manners to know that it was ride to go into someone else house uninvited, so I was just going to stand around until I saw the house owner so I could introduce myself. Gandalf must like leaving people in awkward situations.

"Whose dog is this? Why is it inside!" I heard the hobbit exclaim and I glanced to my side only to see an empty space. Ebert was missing in action. I hadn't noticed him sneak off - I'd been too busy with feeling awkward.

"Oh no," I gasped, red creeping into my cheek as I hurried to where his voice come from. What a great way to introduce myself to the house owner. "Eddy, why!"

I had to scurry around a few dwarves who were carrying everything from food to chairs and even barrels. I made my way to where I heard the voice come from and I saw the Hobbit standing just outside the pantry, staring at my run away dog. Edbert was currently wandering around his house, sniffing everything that was in reach of nose.

"Edbert! Mind your manners!" I snapped in a stern tone, placing my hands on my hips. The hobbit and a few of the dwarves stopped what they were doing to glance at me – my loud voice had obviously drawn their attention. Edbert, knowing he'd been caught, froze on the spot, slowly turning his head around to look at me. "You know better than that!"

Edbert at least had the decency to look a bit sheepish with his head ducking down and his tail wagging softly. He slunk back over to my side as I turned back to the hobbit.

"I am so sorry about that! He normally has better manners than that. I guess the energy of the dwarves is contagious and he got carried away," I sighed. "He was just curious though, he would never chew, eat or steal anything. I can put him outside if you wish…"

"No, no... It's okay," the hobbit muttered in surprise, staring at me in a bewildered manner. He seemed a more than a little stressed about all the dwarves in his house, let alone a human female with a dog. "I'm sorry, we haven't been introduced yet, have we?"

"No, I don't believe we have, Sir. I came along with Gandalf. I'm Scott – and the dog is Edbert - it's a pleasure to meet you." I curtsied again, hoping I was still doing the right thing.

"I'm Bilbo Baggins, the pleasure is all mine," he replied courteously, although he still sounded a little bit cautious. "I'm sorry I couldn't greet you properly, Lady Scott, but-"

"Please, I am no lady, Mr. Baggins. Just Scott will be fine. And there is no need to apologise. I can see that you are… rather busy with your current house guest." I looked around at the hive of dwarf activity as the little men walked around and past us.

"Not that!" Bilbo gasped as one of the dwarves walked past with a vase that they were using to hold some wine. "I'm sorry, Lady Sco-"

"_Scott_. I'm no lady. And it's fine. You can go and try and regain order in your house. I wish you luck." As soon as I said that, the poor hobbit was off again, trying to stop the destruction of his house.

"Edbert…" I looked down at my dog who looked back up at me, his tail wagging softly. "How did we even get here? This is just crazy. What is going on…" My dog didn't understand a word of what I'd just said, so he just let his tongue loll out the side of his muzzle, head tilting to the side. "Well, perhaps asking you isn't the best idea."

* * *

I thought the preparation for the meal was bad, but the meal itself was worse. If my grandparents were here, they would have been disgusted at the behaviour of the dwarves. I could only imagine what Bilbo thought.

The dwarves were yelling, laughing and cheering loudly with mouths full of food. There was food flying across the table and landing in the open mouths of other dwarves. Some were even walking across the table with their dirty shoes on, handing out food and ale as they went. Half of the ale that left their cups went in their mouths - the other half was watering their beards.

After one big glass of ale each, they then proceeded to have a burping contest across the dinner table. From what I could tell, Ori, the youngest, won by a long shot after he let out a belch that lasted a good few seconds.

Gandalf had ushered me to the table and sat me next to him before the meal had started. On my other side was a large, somewhat-bald dwarf that had introduced himself as Dwalin. Edbert, being as smart as he was, had ducked under the table and sat across my feet.

Whilst the dwarves continued their war with the food, I picked up a scone and chewed it silently, watching them with wide eyes. I'd never seen anything like this before, but Gandalf seemed to cope with it rather well, indicating that it wasn't his first dinner with dwarves. All I could do as I sit there was think about what my grandparents would say. They were breaking almost every rule that my grandparents had set at the dinner table.

After a few minutes of watching, Edbert used his head to nudge my legs and let me know he was hungry too. I managed to find enough time to snatch a sausage off a plate and I slid it under the table for Edbert before anyone could see. He had saved my life today, I owed him that much at least. I just hoped the hobbit hadn't noticed because I didn't want to get told off for feeding my dog at the table. That was another huge "_No_" when it came to dining in my house.

Everything was going fine for a few minutes into the dinner. I was ignored and left to sit quietly amongst the chaos, until some flying food missed its mark. Something wet and mushy connected with the side of my head, causing me to freeze like a deer in headlights. The noise around the table slowly died out as everyone stared at me. I blinked a few times, trying to recover from the shock of being hit by a UFO.

Slowly I reached up with my left hand, peeling away the mush that was stuck to my face and my hair. I lowered my hand and opened it to stare owlishly at the deformed skin of a tomato that had just been pulled off my face. From the looks of it, it seemed that someone had taken a large bite out of it before launch-off, so the insides easily splattered all over me. I guessed most of the inside of it was still all through my hair and all over my face because there wasn't much left in the skin.

"I'm so sorry, Miss!" one of the dwarves that I had yet to meet apologised loudly. I looked over at him, seeing that he was a beardless dwarf, so he'd be easy to memorize. "Forgive me, it was not my intention-"

I cut him off by bursting out in laughter. It wasn't soft girlish laughter either - it was loud gut-chuckles with a snort thrown in for good measure. "Oh my." I was laughing so hard that I couldn't even say a full sentence. I had never had to face a situation such as this before, and for some reason the whole thing seemed to be hilarious. "T-That was…" More laughter. "A great shot!"

They all continued to stare silently for a second before one of them joined in on the laughing. Once one started, it set them all off. The table was suddenly laughing and eating again.

"Please excuse me, gentlemen," I laughed, pushing back my chair and standing up. "I'd best go clean myself up."

The meal carried on like it has before as I made my way out of the room and into the hallway. Poor Blibo was standing in the hallway, looking rather lost and distressed. I stopped laughing, suddenly feeling bad as I walked towards him.

"Excuse me, Mr. Baggins, are you okay?" I asked quietly, frowning. It had been rude of me to sit and eat at his dinner table when he was obviously distressed about the pack of dwarves that had assaulted his house.

"Oh, Miss Scott, I am-" He cut himself off when he turned around to face me. "…" He stared silently at me for a second. "What happened to your face?"

"Well, that's a bit rude," I mock gasped, my hand fluttering up cover my mouth to add a dramatic flair. "I was born with my face as it was. My Grandmother always said that I was beautiful."

"No! That is not what I meant!" Bilbo panicked, afraid he'd offended me. "I-I was just-"

"Mr. Baggins, it's fine. I was just joking around. I know what you are talking about. I got hit by a flying tomato – very dangerous things, they are," I explained, trying to get his mood back up. It had the opposite effect. His face went pale and he glanced back at the dining room.

"Flying tomatoes?" he exclaimed. "They will be throwing the plates next!"

"Surely not," I reassured him. "Sorry, Mr. Baggins, but if I may be so bold, could you please point me to a mirror and a cloth? I'd really like to get the tomato out of my hair before it dries in there. It'd be a nightmare to try and get out."

"Oh, certainly." He still seemed a bit flustered but he was really kind. He told me where I could find his bathroom and I left him to calm himself down.

The bathroom was easy to find, and inside I found I bowl of water, a mirror and a piece of material that resembled a towel. I hesitated in the doorway of the bathroom, glancing back down the hall at Bilbo. My throat tightened at the thought of being alone in a room, even if it was a few minutes. I regretted leaving Edbert in the dining room.

I almost went back to get him, but I realized that I would have looked odd to the dwarves if I went back and got my dog to come to the bathroom with me. I could hear the other sounds of life in the house, so that reassured me enough to help me step through the threshold. I left the door open, too scared to close it.

When I saw my reflection in the mirror I dissolved into nervous laughter. No wonder Bilbo had been so shocked at my appearance. I looked like I'd been majorly bleeding from my head. One side of my face was covered in runny chunks of red that looked like a mix of blood and flesh.

I cleaned myself as quickly as I could so that I looked presentable again, and so that I didn't look like I'd taken a hammer to the side of my face. I had to pause every few seconds to make sure that I could still hear everyone's voices, so it took longer than it probably should have. Once I'd done that, I quickly made my way back to the dining room only to have another object thrown at my head. With a girly squeak I ducked, flinging my arms up to cover my head. The new UFO went whizzing by my head, missing me by millimetres.

When I uncovered my head and looked up, I saw the beardless dwarf standing there with a plate in his hands, looking sheepish.

"A plate this time?" I questioned, glancing around the doorway to make sure that someone had caught it. "Mr. Baggins wasn't joking." I looked back at the dwarf who'd open his mouth to say something, but I held up my hand with a laugh and cut him off. "You missed that time. And here I thought you had good aim. Better luck next time."

I didn't wait for a reply before I slipped back into the dining room, bowls and plates flying all through the air. I pressed myself against the wall and Eddy snuck out from under the table, trotting over to my side. I reached down, petting the top of his head as all the tension in my body slowly left. Edbert was my miracle cure.

"Excuse me!" Bilbo yelled from the other room. "That's my mother's-"

I couldn't hear the rest of what he said because the remaining dwarves at the table had started to stamp their hands and feet whilst dragging the knives along the forks to create a musical, thumping sound. Edbert's ears perked up at the weird sound.

"And can you _not_ do that!" the hobbit exclaimed, coming into the room. "You'll blunt them!"

"Oh, do ya hear that, lads?" Bofur called out, still slamming his hands on the table. "He says we'll blunt the knives!"

Before I knew what had happened, the slamming on the table suddenly broke out into an episode of Glee, with everyone singing and laughing.

_Blunt the knives and bent the forks  
Smash the bottles and burn the corks  
Chip the glasses and crack the plates  
That's what Bilbo Baggins hates_

_Cut the cloth and tread on the fat  
Leave the bones on the bedroom mat  
Pour__the milk__on the pantry floor  
Splash the wine on every door_

_Dump the crocks in a boiling bowl  
Pound them up with a thumping pole  
And when you've finished, if any are whole  
Send them down the hall to roll_

_That's what Bilbo Baggins hates_

I was in awe as the table was slowly cleaned off during the singing. At some stage Bofur got his hands on a flute that he started playing which encouraged Oin to pick up a tea-pot and start playing it like flute as well. Bombur got all the scraps and ate them like a never ending pit. Once he was done all the plates where thrown around and stacked up neatly – same with the cups and utensils. Although, apparently the dwarves thought it necessary for all items to fly through the air at least once before they could be stacked on the table.

I wasn't the only one that was shocked by how fast they cleaned up, Bilbo was shocked too – or maybe he was just shocked that they didn't break anything. They were all laughing at his face until a loud knock at the door interrupted them, causing them all to go silent. The air in the room seemed to change all of a sudden as everyone's heads turned around to stare in the direction of the entrance.

"He's here…" Gandalf whispered, walking out of the room to go answer the front door. I was half tempted to ask who exactly was here, but I read the mood and kept my lips sealed. The rest of the dwarves crowded around the door way to the dining room, peaking at the door.

The door creaked open and a gruff voice said, "Gandalf. I thought you said this place would be easy to find." Gandalf stepped back, allowing the new comer to walk in. Although I couldn't seem him past the dwarves, I could still hear him. "I lost my way, twice. I would not have found it at all, had it not been for that mark on the door."

"Mark?" Bilbo asked, pushing his way through the dwarves so that he could get through to Gandalf and the new comer. "There's no mark on that door, it was painted a week ago!"

"There is a mark," Gandalf corrected him, closing the door. "I put it there myself." I crept forward a bit, curious as to who had come now, and I peeked over the heads of the dwarves into to see Gandalf introduce the hobbit and the new comer, another dwarf. "Bilbo Baggins, Allow me to introduce the leader of our company, Thorin Oakenshield."

"So, this is the hobbit," Thorin said, stepping up in front of Bilbo to survey him. After glancing at him for a few seconds, he walked past whilst asking, "Tell me Mr. Baggins, have you done much fighting?"

"Pardon me?" a confused Bilbo replied.

"Axe or sword?" Thorin continued, circling around him like a cat stalking a mouse. I felt sorry for poor Bilbo. "What is your weapon of choice?"

"Well, I do have some skill at conkers, if you must know," the hobbit answered. "But, I failed to see why that is relevant."

Thorin stopped in front of the hobbit again, crossing his arms over his chest. I wasn't in Bilbo's shoes, but I was already intimidated by him. "Thought as much. He looks more like a grocer than a burglar." The rest of the dwarves laughed in reply.

Then, without saying anything else, Thorin walked towards the dining room and the rest of the dwarves moved aside to let him in. Seeing that the intimidating dwarf was coming my way, I pressed my back against the wall, one of my hands reaching down to rest on Edbert's head. I needed comfort right now and Edbert was the only one who could give it to me. I didn't know how I'd react if Thorin noticed me.

I wasn't lucky enough to get away. Gandalf, the old crack-job, walked in and fed me right to the lion. "Scott, come here, dear," Gandalf requested, and suddenly all eyes were on me as everyone else settled back down at the table. Only Bilbo, Thorin, Gandalf and myself remained standing.

I had to shove back the dread that rose in my throat. I'd met scary guys before, right? And this one is half their size. I could handle this. I had a bad feeling though. Gandalf has just fed Bilbo to the wolves, and I was next on his list. What was he planning… This better not have anything to do with my "Job".

I took my hand off Eddy's head, stepping forward in front of Thorin. Edbert, bless his heart, followed me and stood stoically by my side, not at all fazed by the new dwarf.

"Thorin, this is Scott, the one that has been chosen to the caretaker of the ponies and horses," Gandalf introduced me and I went rigged from shock.

"Pardon me?" My head snapped around and I looked at him with wide eyes. "Since when! This is the first I've heard of it!"

"A human girl…" Thorin trailed off, looking me up and down like I was piece of meat on sale. I turned my attention back to him after I noticed the tone he used. I wasn't about to let him look down on me – my grandfather always taught me to hold my own. I looked at him, meeting his eyes with a defiant stare. "Girl, how much do you know about horses?"

"I've grown up around horses, Sir. My Grandparents own a stable and breed horses. I've been around them before I could even crawl," I answered without hesitation and without dropping his stare. When he asked straight and simple questions like that, I could easily answer him honestly.

"Can you fight?" he asked next.

"I have not been trained to use a specific weapon, but when worst comes to worst, I can throw punches like any man," I answered honestly again, although I had no idea why he'd want to know such a question.

"As I thought, she'll be a liability in a fight," Thorin said, turning his back on me as he pulled up his chair and sat at the head of the table. I was left standing there and staring into empty space, still trying to recover.

'_He's looking down on me..._' I hissed mentally, placing my hand back on Eddy's head. I looked down at the dog, and he looked back up at me. _'__Oh well, at least I have you, Edbert__.__Wait... Fight__? Since when will I need to fight? What in the world has that old wizard dragged me into?'_


	3. Chapter 3

**"I know that men in exile feed on hopes." -Aeschylus**

* * *

"What news from the meeting in Ered Luin?" Balin questioned their leader now that they were all sitting down at the table, drinking ale and smoking. "Did they all come?"

"Aye," Thorin responded with a nod of his head. "Envoys from all seven kingdoms."

"What do the dwarves of the iron hills say?" Dwalin enquired. "Is Dain with us?"

Thorin was silent for a few seconds as he took a deep breath. "They will not come."

Groans of disappointment echoed around the table. Feeling unsure about the topic of conversation, I hadn't sat back down. I'd stood against the wall with Eddy again, and Bilbo had come and stood next to me. It seemed that neither of us felt like sitting.

"They say this quest is ours, and ours alone," Thorin continued and the dwarves sighed and looked around restlessly.

"You're… Going on a quest?" Bilbo interrupted, drawing attention to the two of us.

"Bilbo, my dear friend," Gandalf said, clearing his throat, "let us have a little more light." As Bildo moved off, Gandalf pulled out a map and placed it on the table. "Far to the East, over ridges and rivers, beyond woodlands and wastelands… lies a single solitary peak." He pointed to a certain spot on the parchment as Bilbo walked back in with a candle, holding it over the map.

"The… Lonely Mountain," Bildo read out, reading the title of the place that Gandalf had pointed at.

"Aye," Gloin confirmed. "Oin has read the portents, and the portents say it is time."

"Ravens have been seen flying back to the mountains as it was foretold; 'When the birds of yore return to Erebor, the reign of the beast will end'," Oin spoke up for himself.

At the word "Beast" I glanced over at Bilbo in time to see his whole body go stiff. I was glad I wasn't the only one to pick up on that.

"The…" Bilbo stammered, trying to process what they just said. "What beast?"

"Well, that would be a reference to Smaug the Terrible, Chiefest and greatest calamity of our age," Bofur explained for the benefit of Bilbo and I. "Airborne fire-breather, teeth like razors, claws like meat-hooks. Extremely fond of precious metals-"

"Yes, I know what a dragon is!" Bildo exclaimed.

"Dragon?" I asked numbly, blinking as I tried to process it. Gandalf had conveniently left that out of his talk about Middle Earth.

The youngest dwarf, Ori, jumped from his seat suddenly and exclaimed, "I'm not afraid! I'm up for it! I'll give him a taste of dwarfish iron right up his jacksie!"

The rest of the dwarves laughed and groaned as Dori pulled the young dwarf back into his seat. "Sit down!"

"The task would be difficult enough with an army behind us, but we number just thirteen. Not thirteen of the best - nor the brightest," Balin pointed out.

'_Dragon_?' I repeated mentally, still blinking. '_Dwarves, hobbits, elves, wizards and now dragons… What else_! _Pixies and harpies_?'

Balin's statement caused some protest amongst the dwarves who had to try and defend their intellect – or what intellect they had.

"We may be few in number, but we're fighters!" a dwarf I had yet to meet called out. "All of us, to the last dwarf!" He slammed his hand on the table.

"And do you forget, we have a wizard in our company! Gandalf will have killed hundreds of dragons in his time!" the beardless dwarf exclaimed.

"Oh, well, no," Gandalf held up his hand as they all turned to him. "I-I wouldn't say-"

"How many then?" Dori cut him off.

"What?" Gandalf stammered.

"Well, how many dragons have you killed?" Dori quizzed. Gandalf was silent, awkwardly chewing the end of his smoking pipe. "Go on, give us a number!"

I jumped violently when all the dwarves suddenly rose up out of their seats, arguing and fighting with each other. It didn't take much to set them off.

"ENOUGH," Thorin yelled, standing up at the head of the table. Everyone quickly quietened and sat down, turning their attention back to their leader. "If we have read these signs, do you not think others will have read them too?" Silence echoed around the table. "Rumours have begun to spread – the dragon, Smaug, has not been seen for 60 years. Eyes look east to the mountain, assessing, wondering, weighing the risk, perhaps the vast wealth of our people now lies unprotected. Will we sit back while others claim what is rightfully ours? Or do we seize this chance to take back Erebor!"

All the dwarves started cheering and shouting, obviously agreeing with their leader. I was still confused as to what was going on, but I'd picked up enough pieces to understand the basics of it. The dwarves want to take back a place called Erebor, that apparently used to be theirs. In their way is a dragon, Smaug. So, what did that have to do with Bilbo and I?

"You forget," Balin interrupted their cheering as Thorin sat back down, "the front gate is sealed. There is no way into the mountain. "

"That, my dear Balin, is not entirely true," Gandalf argued, pulling something out of his pocket. He held up the object in front of Thorin.

"How came you by this?" Thorin asked, staring at the key that Gandalf was holding.

"It was given to me by your father," the old wizard explained, "by Thrain, for safe keeping. It is yours now." He handed the key over to the dwarf.

"If there is a key, there must be a door," one of the unnamed dwarves pointed out.

"These runes," Gandalf said, pointing to some writing on his map, "speak of a hidden passage to the lower halls."

"There's another way in!" The beardless dwarf sounded excited.

"Well, if we can find it, but dwarf doors are invisible when closed," Gandalf sighed. "The answer lies hidden somewhere in this map, and I do not have the skill to find it. But, there are others in Middle Earth that can. The task I have in mind will require a great deal of stealth, and no small amount of courage." Gandalf turned to look at Bilbo. "But, if we are careful and clever, I do believe it can be done."

"That's why we need a burglar," young Ori deduced.

"Hmm, and a good one too," Bilbo agreed. "An expert I'd imagine."

"And are you?" Oin asked, looking directly at him.

Bilbo, confused, looked around before turning back to him and saying, "Am I what?"

"He said he's an expert!" Oin cheered and the others laughed.

"M-Me? No, no, no!" Bilbo argued. "I'm not a burglar. I've never stolen a thing in my life."

"I'm afraid I'll have to agree with Mr. Baggins," Balin sighed. "He's hardly burglar material."

"Aye, the wild is no place for gentle folk who can neither fight nor fend for themselves," Dwalin agreed which caused a round of mummers among the table. Bilbo just pointed at Dwalin and shrugged his shoulders in agreement. He wasn't going to argue. "Both the hobbit and the girl would not be able to make it in the wild."

I scowled at that statement for two reasons. One, Dwalin had just offended my ego by saying that I couldn't look after myself in the wild. Second, that meant that they had planned to take me with them to look after their equines while they ran around fighting dragons. Gandalf could have mentioned it sooner so that I didn't get such a shock.

The mummers at the table soon turned into another argument amongst themselves. Eddy was fidgeting nervously by my side at this point, the loud voices upsetting him. I placed my hand on his head and the touch calmed him down straight away.

"Enough!" Gandalf yelled so loudly that his voice echoed around the room. "If I say Bilbo Baggins is a burglar, then a burglar he is!" Everyone went silent, staring at Gandalf. Bilbo opened his mouth to argue with Gandalf, but the wizard kept talking before he could. "Hobbits are remarkably light on their feet. In fact, they can pass unseen by most, if they choose. And, while the dragon is accustomed to the smell of dwarf, the scent of a hobbit is all but unknown to him, which gives us a distinct advantage. As for the girl, she is stronger than you give her credit for. She will have her uses – and she will not slow you down. You asked me to find the fourteenth and fifteenth members of this company, and I have chosen Mr. Baggins and Miss Scott. There's a lot more to them than appearances. And they've got a great deal more to offer than any of you know… Including themselves. You must trust me on this."

Thorin stared silently at Gandalf for a few second before relenting. "Very well. We will do it your way."

"No, no!" Bilbo protested.

"Do we get any say in this?" I asked, stepping forward from the wall and walking over to Bilbo's side.

"Give them the contracts," Thorin instructed.

"It's just the usual," Balin said, standing up and pulling two pieces of parchment out of his pocket. "Summary about out of pocket expenses, time required, remuneration, funeral arrangements, so forth." He handed the contracts over to Thorin who passed it to Bilbo and I. Bilbo was so shocked that he just stood there and accepted it with wide eyes. I took mine with a mumbled words of thanks.

"Funeral arrangements?" he questioned, slowly opening it up. It was too dark for him to read it properly in the dining room, so he stepped out into the hall under the light. I followed him, curious as to what the contracts said. Contracts I could deal with. When you work at a stable, there are so many contracts everyone has to sign for the insurance companies, governments and other annoying places. They all seemed to think that buy stepping anywhere close to a stable, you were going to die. Horses weren't that dangerous, unless you were stupid around them.

"Oh," Bilbo groaned as the paper unfolded into a massive long list of things. "Toes cash on delivery... Up to and not exceeding 1/15th a total profit, if any." He read out loud whilst I stood near him, unfolding my own contract. "The company should not be liable for any injuries sustained by, but not limited to, lacerations… Evisceration? incineration?" His voice rose a pitch with the last one and he turned to face the dwarves, all blood draining from his face

"I'm guessing that'll be from the dragon," I pointed out.

"Oh, aye, he'll melt the flesh off your bones in the blink of an eye," Bofur agreed. Bilbo took a deep breath, closing the contract and staring up at the celling. I'm guessing he didn't like the idea of being burnt alive. I couldn't say that I fancied it much myself either.

"You alright, Laddie?" Balin asked him.

"Yeah, I," he muttered breathlessly. "I feel a bit faint."

"Think furnace, with wings," Bofur, the ever helpful dwarf, added. Bilbo, if possible, went ever paler.

"Mr. Baggins?" I questioned, taking a step towards him.

"A-Air, I need air," Bilbo stuttered.

"Flash of light, searing pain, and then poof, you're nothin' more than a pile of ash!" Bofur exclaimed, smiling widely.

"That's not helping, Mr. Bofur," I protested.

"Hmm," he mumbled, swaying on his feet. "…Nope." I jumped forward with a shocked squeak as the hobbit's legs gave out. The contract slipped out of my hands as I grabbed him awkwardly around the torso, stopping him from impact on the ground. He was smaller than me, and not very heavy, so holding him up wasn't that hard – only awkward.

"Oh. Mr. Baggins!" I gasped, staring at the dwarves with wide eyes. Edbert, who thought he was helping, ran over and started licking Bilbo's face in an attempt to wake him up. I had a feeling that Bilbo wouldn't appreciate being violated by a dog whilst he was knocked out. "Edbert! Stop it!"

"Very helpful, Bofur," Gandalf groaned, standing up to come and help me with the hobbit.

* * *

With Gandalf's help, Bilbo was moved into the sitting room, and placed in a chair. The old wizard asked me to go make him a cup of tea, so I did so. I made sure Edbert came with me this time, and I went to the kitchen.

It was hard to find my way around his kitchen because I had no idea where everything was, and it had already been raided by dwarves. Although, it didn't take long for me to figure everything out after a bit of exploring – with Edbert helping. There was already some water set to boil over the fire, so I dug up a teapot from a cupboard. Next to it, in a jar, was some tea leaves.

I quickly put it all together, set the pot and a cup on a tray and I took it onto the hobbit. The hobbit was awake by now, so I walked up to him with the tray and set it down a table by his chair.

"How are you feeling now, Mr. Baggins? Can I get anything for you?" I questioned politely.

"No… No, thank you," he answered, still a little shaken up. "Miss Scott, are you really planning on going with these… Dwarves?"

"I'm… Not sure," I admitted, sitting down in a chair opposite the hobbit. Edbert sprawled himself across my feet, placing his head on his paws. "Today has been an interesting day for me... Gandalf didn't even tell me what he planned - I only figured it out by listening to the dwarves. If I don't go with the dwarves, I don't know where else I am meant to go. According to Gandalf, I am meant to do this job… So, who knows. What about you?"

"Oh no, I couldn't," Bilbo replied, shaking his head in denial.

Gandalf walked back into the room that Bilbo and I were in and he turned to face me. "Scott, would you mind if I talked to Bilbo in private?"

He was asking me to leave so that he could talk to the hobbit in private. Fair enough. "Of course, I need to read that contract anyway." With a nudge of my foot, Edbert sprung back up, tail wagging in excitement. I stood up off the chair and started to make my way to the hall with my dog trailing at my heels. "If you need me, I'll be in the kitchen, where it's quiet." And with that, I walked out.

I walked into the hallway and picked up my contract that was still on the ground. I then walked into the kitchen, settling down a chair by the fire so that I could see to read. Edbert happily curled up right in front of the fire, falling to sleep almost instantly. Lazy dog. One minute he was bouncing with energy, and the next he was fast asleep.

With a sigh I unrolled the paper and started to read. I had to read most sentences twice to understand what it was saying. The words used in the document were nothing I was used to. There were lines like; "_All condition imposed herein are deemed to survive loss or destruction on this document, whether by accidental or wilful mishaps, fair means or foul, and any reconstruction, re-wording, updating or improvements or additions made shall include a condition similar to this condition, notwithstanding any repetition, redundancy, overstatement or implication hereby recognised or disclosed._"

Most of the terms had to do with what the company would give you and pay for on your joinery, and what would happen if you injured yourself. There were also a few lines about the fact the dwarves weren't liable if any unwanted guests decided to take over your house while you were away. Luckily I didn't need to worry about that.

I got three-quarters of the way through it before my eyes started to blur. I was only distracted when I heard some humming coming from one of the other rooms. I paused my reading to listen as they started to sing.

_Far over the misty mountain cold_

_To dungeons deep, and caverns old_

_We must away ere break of day_

_To find our long forgotten gold_

_The pines were roaring on the height_

_The winds were moaning in the night_

_The fire was red, it flaming spread_

_The trees like torches, blazed with light_

I had laid my head on the table whilst they were singing so I could hear them clearly. The lyrics were so deep that as they sung I closed my eyes and a whole story played out in my head. I could see the dragon, the fire, and the caverns. It was so sad and I felt a rush of sympathy towards the dwarves. They'd suffered greatly, and all they wanted to do was get their home back. I'd be heartless not to help them if I could.

At some point during the song I even drifted off to sleep without knowing, my face pressed against a small table.

* * *

I woke up early, before the sun had even started to rise. I was normally up this early to start mucking stables and feeding horses. My grandfather ran a tight schedule, and if you were tardy, there were consequences. My body had set its own alarm, so I always woke up at this time every day.

On this morning though, I had no need to do any of my normal jobs. I sighed, lifting my head off the table as all my muscles cramped. Sleeping on a table was not the best thing to do. Although, I'd slept in worse places before, so I was considering myself lucky to have a roof over my head and a fire to keep me warm.

Feeling something heavy on my shoulders and I reached up to feel it, my fingers meeting with soft material. During the night someone had put a blanket over my shoulders so that I didn't get cold. A soft smile crept over my lips at the thoughtful gesture. How sweet. I looked by the fire, and sure enough, Edbert was still sleeping happily next to it. My attention was then drawn by the sound of snoring coming from the other rooms in the house, causing me to smirk. The dwarves were still here.

I yawned, covering my mouth with one hand. I was up late last night, so I didn't get enough sleep. The sun hadn't risen yet, and I had no jobs to do, so I laid my head back down on the table. "Might as well get some more sleep. Today will be another long day," I sighed, closing my eyes again.

* * *

"Miss Scott. Miss Scott. Please wake up, Miss Scott," a voice requested, shaking my shoulder.

"Mmm, wha?" I muttered sleepily, opening my eyes.

"The dwarves have left, if we are going with them, we must leave soon," Bilbo informed me, removing his hand from my shoulder now that I was awake. Good thing too, because as soon as I heard that the dwarves were gone, I'd already shot up from the chair, stumbling to me feet.

"What!" I yelped. "How long did I sleep!"

"Come, I've already packed my bags. We must leave soon and make haste." He handed me an apple. "Here, you can have this for breakfast. Miss Scott, are you sure you want to come?"

"I thought about it last night, and yes, I want to come," I replied, glancing down at the apple. "Thank you."

"Then you may want to sign your contract and we'll be on our way so we can catch up with the dwarves," Bilbo said, pointing to the contract that was on the table.

"Oh, of course," I put the apple in the pocket of my breeches and picked the quill up out of the pot, looking at the bottom of the paper. I quickly signed my name under Balin and Thorin's signatures. "Mr. Baggins, where's Edbert this morning?"

"He was standing by the door, so I let him out." Bilbo picked up the parchment from the table, looking over it once more before nodding. "Let's be on our way. We may need to run to catch up."

"That's okay, it'll give me a chance to stretch my legs," I laughed, following him to the door and out of his house. He paused, looking back into his house, reluctant to close the door. "Mr. Baggins?"

"Oh, right." He closed the door and we were off at a run. Because I had longer legs, it was more a jog for me while Bilbo was sprinting. I grabbed my skirt, hitching it up around my knees before jumping smoothly over his gate, landing neatly on the other side. I paused and waited for Bilbo to open the gate and let himself out. While I was standing there, I cupped my hands over my mouth and let out a high pitched whistle that echoed over the area. A loud bark answered me and Edbert appeared at the end of the lane, looking at me with a wagging tail.

"Well, Mr. Baggins, we're all accounted for," I informed him as I grabbed my skirt again. "I don't know where I am going, so I'll follow you."

We ran down the lane, towards Edbert, and when we reached him, Bilbo jumped off the track and ran down a grassy hill. Edbert was next to follow him, always happy to go for a run. I was at the back of our little parade, jogging along as I took in the town of Hobbiton. It was a beautiful place in the day.

Bildo ran through some chickens that scattered out of the way and I didn't miss the way Eddy stared at them, his ears and tail perking up. He wanted to herd them, just like he was bred to do. It was almost like an OCD thing for him, if there was a group of something, it needed to stay together, even if he had to force them too. I would be in trouble if he tried to round up the dwarves. "Don't even think about it!" I hissed.

He glanced back at me, at the chickens, at me, at the chickens, at me and then kept running after Bilbo. I laughed under my breath, jogging past a pig that had a harness on. Both Edbert and I did a double take on it as we ran past.

I was so busy looking at the pig that I almost didn't see the guy with a giant pumpkin in a cart that he was pushing it across our path. Bilbo jumped over him, and Edbert follow his lead. So, just for the fun of it, I jumped the pumpkin as well, waving at the poor confused hobbit with one hand. "Good morning, Sir!"

Nothing was slowing us down this morning. We also ran past a woman who was sitting down and doing her washing. She looked as confused as the man we met before. "Good morning, Ma'am." I waved and she was left open mouthed. I wondered if they had many humans visiting here very often.

The next obstacle was a fence which we all easily cleared, running past a cow that stamped its foot angrily at Edbert. Eddy skittered away from it, barking in a disgruntled manner at the hostility the cow displayed. "Psst, Edbert, stop it!" I hissed, running past him. He barked once more at the cow before running again, easily passing me.

We quickly got back on a path, turning a corner and almost bowling over another hobbit. "Sorry, Sir!" I apologised as a jogged past.

"Mr. Bilbo, where are you off to?" one of the hobbits we ran past enquired.

"Can't stop, we're already late!" he called back.

"For what?" the hobbit asked.

"I'm going on an adventure!" he declared

* * *

**Sorry, there isn't much changed in this chapter. :) The next one will be better, I promise!**

**Thank you to Guisniperman, Zabuzasgirl and Fattyskeleton for their reviews. **


	4. Chapter 4

**"A dreamer is one who can only find his way by moonlight, and his punishment**

**is that he sees the dawn before the rest of the world." -Oscar Wilde**

* * *

"Wait! Wait!" Bilbo yelled breathlessly as we caught up to the convoy of dwarves all on ponies. The dwarves, seeing us coming, stopped their ponies and glanced back at us as we jogged up to them. Poor Bilbo was almost completely out of breath. Edbert and I were faring better because we were used to running and strenuous activity.

"You left without us!" I protested, although I still smiling at them. When I was close enough, I stopped running and dropped my skirt.

"I signed it!" Bilbo announced, holding up the contracts. "_We_ signed it!" He walked over to Balin who was riding a white pony, and he handed them to him.

Balin accepted the contract, unfolding it and pulling out a monocle so that he could check our signatures. After scrutinizing it for a few seconds he announced, "Everything appears to be in order. Welcome, Master Baggins and Lady Scott to the company of Thorin Oakenshield."

While Balin was talking, my eyes were taking in all the horses and ponies. The dwarves each had a shaggy little pony to ride, and there was a few extra ponies being used to carry only luggage. Gandalf had a horse that he was riding and Bofur was leading a monstrous grey beast behind his tiny pony.

'_Two horses and more ponies than I care to count… This will be an interesting trip to say the least. Ponies always have some of the worst attitude issue,'_' I laughed mentally, ready to face the challenge head on. They couldn't be too much worse than a bunch of racers that thought that they owned the place.

"Give him a pony, and the girl a horse," Thorin ordered and the smile was wiped of Bilbo's face straight away.

"No, no, no!" he protested, waving his hand. "Th-That won't be necessary, thank you. I'm sure I can keep up on foot. I-I've done my fair share of walking holidays." He was ignored as the company started to push on again. "Even got as far as Frogmorton once."

"Come on Bilbo, you'll be alright," I tried to encourage him.

The beardless dwarf and another young dwarf walked their ponies on either side of him, grabbing him by the shoulders and lifting him into the air with a cry of shock. They then quickly placed him on the back of another pony and he tried to settle awkwardly on its back. I almost went over to help him, but I was cut off by Bofur who walked his pony over to me. Behind his pony, being led on a rope, was a rather rough looking grey horse. Although, I was using the word "Horse" lightly. He was massive, taller than even Gandalf's horse. From one look at him I knew that he had to be close to 18 or 19 hands high. I'd only gotten close to horse this tall once or twice in my life. He was no creature of beauty either, he was big boned, had a huge face that didn't fit his body and his coat rather shaggy and dull.

"This is Greg, your horse," Bofur explained, handing the rope over to me and smiling impishly. Cheeky bugger, he thought this was funny.

"Thank you, Mr. Bofur, he's… Quiet a character from the looks of him." I smirked back at him. I knew not to judge a book by its cover when it came to horses. My hand slid up the rope so that I could clutch it close to his bridle. I then use the rope to pull him off the main path so that all the other ponies could get past. Bofur moved his pony off to the side as well to wait for me.

I looked at the rope and I noticed that it was tied to one side of his bit, I deduced that the rope was actually also his reins. Once I figured that out I tied the end of the rope to the other side of the bit and lifted it over his head and onto his neck.

"Would you like a hand to mount that creature?" Bofur asked, and I could hear a friendly teasing tone in his voice.

"Thank you for the offer, Mr. Bofur, but I do believe I should be fine," I replied tartly when I noticed that several of the dwarves were looking back at me and my giant. I stepped around to his left side whilst still holding the reins. Normally I could mount with no problems, but this horse was huge and I had a skirt on, which made it difficult. Once again I mentally thanked myself for wearing breeches under the skirt which allowed me to lift it up to my knees with having to worry about showing and skin. I lifted up my left foot, a long way up, placing it in the stirrup and the hand that was holding the reins also grabbed the front of the saddle. I counted to three before boosting myself up into the air, my leg swinging over his back. I had to lift my leg extra high so that I didn't hit the packs tied behind his saddle. Settling down, I smiled, proud that I had manage to mount a giant horse, in a skirt, first go with no problems. Patting my noble stead's shoulder, I mumbled, "Hey there, Greg. Good boy. Oh my, I can almost see Hobbiton on the horizon from this height!"

"Good job, lass!" Bofur congratulated me. "I didn't think ya had it in ya!"

"Well I am full of surprises, aren't I?" I replied cheekily, adjusting the reins and nudging him into a walk. Even the way his body moved was slow and sluggish, it felt like tractor compared to a car. Bofur nudged his pony back into a walk as well and we re-joined the group. Edbert, who knew his place amongst a bunch of horses and ponies, trotted along at the side of the convoy, smelling every second bush and tree. "Excuse me, Mr. Bofur, may I enquire as to what is in the bags behind Greg's saddle?"

"Mostly supplies so that you can take care of the horses. There are also a few supplies for you that Gandalf gathered for you, such as a coat and blanket," he answered as his pony plodded alongside Greg.

"Oh, thank you!" I gasped. I hadn't thought about my supplies before, so I was thankful that Gandalf had. Maybe he wasn't as bad as I first though.

I noticed that Bilbo was a few ponies ahead of me and seemed to be struggling with his riding skills. He was holding the reins up as high as his chin and he was bouncing up and down and slipping from side to side. He look completely freaked out on the pony's back.

"Please excuse me, Mr. Bofur, but it seems that our hobbit could do with a hand before he falls off his pony," I laughed, pulling Greg to the side and urging him into a trot so that I could move up to Bilbo. As soon as my giant started to trot, I fell in love with him. His gate was so smooth compared to smaller and finer boned horses – trotting on him was like bouncing on a trampoline. I chose to ignore that fact that each time his hoovers drummed against the ground, it sounded like a mini earthquake. I was so distracted with feeling out the movements of Greg's pace that I almost forgot to stop him next to Bilbo's pony.

At the last second I sat back in the saddle, applying soft pressure to the reins so that he slowed down to a walk. "Hello, Mr. Baggins. I couldn't help but noticed that you seemed to having a tad bit of trouble. I do hope you don't mind if I give you a bit of advice – just to make this ride easier for you," I asked, glancing down over the side of my giant so that I could look at Bilbo.

"I'd be better off walking, I can't ride," Bilbo grumbled awkwardly, obviously not used to accepting help from women.

"Is this your first time riding?" I smiled at him, trying to reassure him. "Because you're actually doing really well so far considering that no one has told you what to do. But, just to make your life easier, I'll give you a few tips. First of all, you'll probably get really sore arms if you continue to hold them up like that, you can rest them against the ponies neck. She seems to know what to do, so you don't have to worry about keeping constant pressure on the reins." I jerked my head towards my own hands, indicating how they should be. He quickly adjusted his hands. "Perfect. Now, if you want her to stop, press back in the saddle and softly apply pressure to the reins. To make her speed up, lean forward and squeeze your legs. To turn left, apply pressure to the left rein. To turn right, apply pressure to the right rein. And that, Mr. Bilbo, is all you need to know to be a capable horseman."

"Thank you, Miss Scott, for being so kind. You really do seem to know a lot about riding," Bilbo mused, looking up at me.

"Yeah, it's one of the only things I'm good at. I've spent my whole life around horses, and I used to help teach others to ride. I love it," I reminisced, patting Greg softly on his shoulder.

"Achoo!" Bilbo sneezed suddenly causing Greg to throw his head up in the air in protest. "Ah, horse hair… I'm having a reaction," Bilbo sighed, searching through his pockets for something. "Oh, wait, wait! Stop! Stop! We have to turn around!" he yelled, causing the convoy to come to a halt – even Edbert paused, looking back at us.

"What on earth is the matter?" Gandalf questioned.

"I forgot my handkerchief," he said in a way that made it seem like matter or life or death to him.

"Here." Bofur, who without me noticing had shifted up in front of Bilbo and I, ripped a piece of his shirt off and threw it back to Bilbo. "Use this."

Bilbo caught the cloth and held it up like it was a diseased rat. The dwarves all laughed, and Thorin called out, "Move on!"

Everyone else got their ponies moving again and I waited for Bilbo who just sat there on his pony, not moving. "Come on, Mr. Baggins. We're on an adventure, right? There's no turning back now."

With a disgruntled look the hobbit nudged his pony back into a walk, re-joining the group. Greg, without needing any instructions, joined the line again as well. I was going to re-join Bilbo in the line to keep a close eye on him so he didn't fall off, but I was quickly boxed in.

Glancing to either side of my horse I saw two smirking dwarves, seemingly up to something. I blinked owlishly, looking between them.

"Hello, Miss!" the beardless dwarf chirped happily.

"I don't believe we've been introduced yet," the dwarf on my other side said.

"I'm Kili."

"And I'm Fili."

"At your service," they said the same time, bowing whilst still on their ponies.

"I'm Scott, pleasure to meet you," I replied, flashing them a smile. "Your names… Are you related by any chance?"

"We're brothers," Kili explained.

"And Thorin is our Uncle," Fili finished off. I thought it was cute how they finished off each other's sentences. They certainly acted like siblings.

"Oh," I mumbled as things started to click in place. "So all the dwarves with similar names are related?"

"They are," Fili confirmed.

"Ori, Nori and Doir are all brothers," Kili elaborated. "And Bifur, Bofur and Bumbur are all brothers as well."

"So are Gloin and Oin," Fili added. "And Balin and Dwalin."

"I see," I nodded, sorting that information in the back of my head. "That makes a lot more sense. You're all like one big family."

"Uhh… Sort of," Fili agreed. "What about you?"

"Pardon?" I asked.

"Do you have any siblings?" Kili questioned.

"Uhh…" I stuttered, the bouncing conversation was hard to follow with the way it was bouncing back and forth between the two brothers. "No. I don't have any siblings. I didn't need siblings when I was growing up - I caused enough trouble as it was. Couldn't imagine two of me."

The brothers laughed and Kili said, "You don't exactly seem like the misbehaving type. You strike me more as the type of quite girl who always listened to her elders."

It was my turn to laugh loudly at the thought of me behaving as a kid. "Me? Well behaved?" I laughed some more, causing Greg's ears to flick back and forth. "I was always running around and getting covered in dirt and hay. No lock of bolt could have kept me away from the horses and trouble. Most of the time I didn't mean to create trouble, it just found me. More than once I found myself at the receiving end of a cuff or a lecture."

"Oh?" Fili hummed, sounding curious. I looked either side of me and I saw the two dwarves, looking at me curiously as they waited for me continue.

"Mhmm." I paused and ran through multiple stories in my head. I tried to pick one that didn't give up much about where I came from. That would way too much explaining to do right now. "Well, there was this one time when I was little and I was meant to be going out with my Grammy. She dressed me up like a little doll - pretty white dress and all. She then went to get herself ready, and I noticed that my Papp's lunch was still on the dinner table. I knew that he'd been busy with some repairs on the feed shed, so I thought I'd be a good little kid and take it out to him."

"I can see where this is going!" Kili teased.

"We'll see," I replied, smirking impishly. "I walked outside, and sat Papp's lunch down as I put my boots on. While I was distracted, a cheeky bird flew down and stole my Papp's sandwich. I, of course, wasn't about to go down without a fight so I chased the bird until it landed in a tree. Without thinking about it, I climbed up the tree after the bird. I wasn't fast enough, and as soon as the bird saw me, it flew away and left me stuck in the top of the tree. Getting up wasn't the problem, it was getting down. Naturally, I tried to get down to chase the bird, but my dress got caught on a branch and I slipped. I ended up hanging in the tree with my dress being the only thing holding me up. I was suspended off the branch like washing on a line."

"You got stuck in the tree?" Fili laughed and Kili joined in.

"I did, I did." I nodded my head. "I was stuck up the tree for a few hours before Papp and Grammy found me. Papp had to climb up and help me down, but my dress was already ruined. It had a huge tear in it, and my Grammy was not pleased. I never did catch that devious bird either!"

"That's not very ladylike of you," Kili taunted, although I could tell by his tone that he joking.

Snorting, I agreed. "Much to my Grammy's disappointment, I was not very ladylike. I'm still not. What about you two? Did you ever get into trouble?"

* * *

We rode all day, no breaks. I felt rather sympathetic to Bilbo, who would be really saddle sore by tomorrow. The rest of the day had passed by in a blur for me by talking to Kili and Fili about our childhoods. We exchanged several tales and spent most of the afternoon laughing.

When the sun was starting to go down we finally chose to make a camp on a cliff top. There was a grassy shelf where the ponies and horses could be kept, and there was a rocky wall that we could shelter next to.

"We camp here tonight," Thorin ordered as everyone brought their ponies to a stop and started dismounting. I sighed as I glanced over the side of my giant; the ground was so far away. Before I jumped down, I untied the packs on Greg's back and threw them to the ground. Then, swinging my right leg over his back, I slid down to the ground.

Edbert was on the ground waiting for his chance to pounce. As soon as my feet made contact with the ground he came bounding over, nipping at my skirt. "Yes, hello to you too, Edbert," I laughed, patting him on the head so that he settled down. Once Eddy had gotten a pat for me, we waltzed off again, going to scout out of camp site.

I turned my attention back to my giant because I couldn't stand there and hold his reins all day. I untied the rope on one side of his bit, looking around for something to tie him too. To my disappointment there was only rocks littered about on the ground, no trees or shrubs. "I wonder…" I mumbled, squatting down next to the packs and opening them. I looked through the bags and found a stake that could be used to tie the horse up with. "Ah ha! Bingo!"

I drove the stake into the ground, tying Greg to it so that he couldn't go anywhere in a hurry, but he still had enough room to be able to browse on the grass. Looking around I noticed that dwarves had gotten stakes of their own and they had already tied their ponies down and were moving onto to other jobs.

I made a quick plan in my head – first I would take the packs and saddles off the ponies and then I would groom them all. I took Greg's saddle off first, taking a few seconds to figure out the straps and buckles. The design was a little different from what I was used to, but it was still easy to figure out. I placed the saddle on the ground near my bags and I then moved through all the ponies, untacking them and placing their saddles and bags near them.

By the time I finished with that task, the dwarves had already gathered a pike of wood and they were getting ready to light it and cook dinner. I was impressed by how fast they moved and how well they worked as a team. I didn't miss the way Thorin looked over at me every now and then to make sure I was doing my job correctly. He never said anything, so I came to the conclusion that I passed his test.

I wandered back to my bags, pulling out a brush and hoof-pick. Starting with Bilbo's pony I brushed them all down, running my hands along their backs and legs to make sure that they were still healthy after walking all day. After a brush down they all got their hooves cleaned out. Most of them didn't mind, but a few ponies played out while I was cleaning their hooves. One of them even tried to lay down on me, but Eddy appeared suddenly, nipping it on the nose to make it behave.

I attended Gandalf's horse second to last and I was surprised at how well behave he was. His horse acted like an angel and didn't put one hoof out of line. Greg, the giant, was last and he took twice as long as any of the ponies – even the misbehaving one. By the time I was done, the sun had set, dinner had been cooked and I was exhausted. I grabbed a blanket that I'd found in my packs and I walked over to the main camp area.

"Here ya go, Lass. Sit down and eat," Gloin ordered as he appeared next to me, handing me a bowl. He then put a light hand on my elbow, directing me to a place where I could sit down.

"Thank you very much, Mr. Gloin," I said gratefully, laying my blanket on the ground so that I could sit on it and eat. As soon as I sat down Edbert was suddenly at my side, his eyes on my bowl of stew. Eating half of my stew quickly, I then placed it down for Edbert to finish off. He woofed it down, hardly even stopping to breathe. "Pig," I laughed, pushing the bowl away when was done.

By now, several of the other dwarves had already laid down and gone to sleep. It didn't take me long to notice something. Gloin had directed me to a place so that I was in between the fire and the cliff wall. All the other dwarves were spread out evenly enough so that they weren't sleeping too close to me. They'd made sure I got a safe place to sleep in the camp, whilst also making sure not to invade my privacy and make me uncomfortable. Ori, Fili and Kili, the youngest dwarves, also seemed to end up in safe places between the wall and the fire, like me. I felt like a spoiled brat, but I was still thankful for the gesture.

Following the sleeping dwarves' example, I laid on the ground and pulled my blanket over myself. Eddy wiggled his way under the blanket with me, curling up against my side. One of my hands gently started to stroke his back as we both slipped off to sleep.

* * *

**Thank you Elrohir Lover and Zabuzasgirl for the reviews. And to answer your question Elrohir Lover, I did say I was going to think about a re-write of the story... And well, it happened a lot quicker than I thought it would. ^^ **


	5. Chapter 5

**"If you can't get rid of the skeleton in your closet, you'd best teach it to dance."- George Bernard Shaw**

* * *

I woke up quickly when I heard Edbert begin to growl lowly, his whole body vibrating with the sound. I knew something was not right so I opened my eyes, wrapping my arms tighter around him. "Eddy?" I whispered quietly, trying not to wake the others as I sat up, still holding onto my dog.

His growling cut off when a scream of some creature echoed across the night sky, drawing the attention of those who were awake. Edbert pressed himself into my chest, looking up at me in confusion at the sound. He didn't know what it was, and neither did I. "Shh, it's okay," I reassured, running my hand along his head.

"What was that?" Bilbo, who was also awake and patting his pony, asked nervously.

"Orcs," Kili answered. His brother, Fili, and he had been on watch, so they were also awake to hear it. Another scream echoed across the night, causing me to shiver.

"Orcs?" Bilbo and I asked at the same time and Bilbo ran away from his pony and came closer to the fire. Gandalf had quickly explained to me what orcs were while we were walking to Bilbo's house, and I did not want to meet any. Ever.

"Throat cutters. There'll be dozen of them out there," Fili elaborated, glancing at Bilbo and I. My grip tightened on Ed and, seeing that I was scared, he whined, reaching up to lick under my chin.

"The low lands are crawling with them. They strike in the wee small hours when everyone is asleep," Kili continued. "Quick and quiet. No screams. Just lots of blood." Bilbo and I both glanced nervously back towards the edge of the cliff.

"You think that's funny?" Thorin demanded, standing up and walking towards them. "You think a night raid by orcs is a joke?"

Bilbo and I looked at each other as a look of realization dawned on our faces. They had been tricking us! They at least had the decency to look abashed at the tone in their uncle's voice.

"We… Didn't mean anything by it," Kili apologized.

"No, you didn't," Thorin agreed, stalking towards the edge of the camp. "You know nothing of the world."

"Don't mind him, Laddie," Balin said, walking towards the two brothers. "Thorin has more cause than most to hate orcs. After the dragon took the Lonely Mountain, King Thror tried to reclaim the ancient dwarf kingdom of Moria… But, our enemy had got there first. Moria had been taken by legions of orcs, led by the most vial of all their race, Azog, the defiler. The giant Gundabad Orc had sworn to wipe out the line of Durin. He began by beheading the King. Thrain, Thorin's father, was driven mad by grief. He went missing, taken prisoner or killed - we did not know. We were leaderless - defeat and death were upon us. That is when I saw him - the young dwarf prince facing down the Pale Orc. He stood alone against this terrible foe, his armour rent, wielding nothing but an oaken branch as a shield... Azog the Defiler learned that day that the line of Durin would not be so easily broken. Our forces rallied and drove the orcs back - our enemy had been defeated... But there was no feast or songs that night, for our dead were beyond the count of grief. We few had survived and I thought to myself then 'There is one who I could follow. There is one I could call King'."

While the story was being told, the rest of the sleeping dwarves had woken up and stood, facing their leader. I buried my face into the fur on Eddy's neck as Balin told the story. What a horrible way to lose your family and your home… I squeezed my eyes closed, refusing to cry.

Thorin turned away from the cliff face and the rest of the dwarves stood there, looking at him with admiring eyes. I looked up in time to him nod at them and walk back towards the camp.

"And the Pale Orc?" Bilbo asked. "What happened to him?"

"He slunk back into the hall whence he came," Thorin said, striding back to the fire. "That filth died of his wounds long ago."

* * *

I woke up early again, before the sun had even risen. Edbert, sometime during the night, had pulled the blanket off me and curled himself in it. The only thing visible from it was one of his back legs that was planted in my cheek.

I laid there for a few seconds, blinking in disbelief. My _dog_ had stolen _my_ blanket. With a sigh, I sat up, moving away from his back paw. I then reached up, feeling my cheek as I noticed that his paw had left an imprint in my face.

"Eddy, I can't believe the nerve of you… Typical male really," I muttered quietly, trying not to wake the others.

"I'd have to disagree with ya there, lass," Bofur, who was on watch, laughed. "It's normally the other way around."

"Oh, good morning, Mr. Bofur," I yawned, turning my head around to look at him over the fire. "How long will it be before the others wake up?"

He looked up at the position of the moon before answering, "Probably another two or three hours. Ya have enough time for some more sleep if ya wanted."

"Oh, no, I'm fine. Two or three hours is enough for me to do a few thing. I'm normally up this early," I said, standing up and stretching my arms. "I'll warm up the ponies and tack them up before the others wake up."

"You're dedicated," Bofur teased. "Make sure not to wander too far from the camp."

"I'm just doing my job. And don't worry, I'll stay close," I replied, remembering the screaming from last night. I was not about to wander to close to anything that was dangerous – orc or not. Trying to dodge sleeping dwarves, I made my way to Greg first, greeting him with a kiss on his nose and he rubbed his head against my chest. "Morning beautiful," I whispered quietly so that Bofur couldn't hear me. "Aren't you a cheery fella in the mornin'?" He whickered happily in reply as I rubbed his forehead.

After cuddling and patting him for a few minutes, I untied him and led him quietly away from the camp. Once I was far away to not have to worry about waking up the dwarves, I walked Greg around for 5 minutes to get his muscles and body to warm up again.

I was a bit nervous about being alone, but if I had a horse with it, I felt somewhat safe. So long as I had some sort of company, I didn't start to panic. If the horse bolted on me, and left me alone, then I'd panic. But that wasn't likely to happen.

Taking Greg back to his stake, I tied him up securely so that I could throw his saddle and packs on his back. I struggled to them as high as his back, and had to stand on my tippy toes and stretch as far as I could just so that I could throw the saddle high enough.

Once I was finished tacking up my horse, I moved on to the ponies and walked them two at a time so that I could get the walking over with quicker. Most of the ponies were good to saddle, even the one that gave me trouble yesterday. It was another pony that played up this morning. When I placed the saddle on him, he took a deep breath in and expanded his chest so that I couldn't tighten the saddle properly. I hissed under my breath, "I _hate_ it when ponies do this!"

I tightened the girth as much as I could and then I moved onto the next pony to saddle him up. When I was done that one, I spun and pounced on the misbehaving pony, tightening the girth before he could puff himself up again. In response he flattened his ears and flicked his tail at me like I was a fly. I childishly stuck my tongue out at him as I moved onto the next set of ponies.

By the time I finished saddling all the horses and ponies, everyone else was awake and packing up the camp. Even Edbert was awake and he walked towards me, head held high with the corner of my blanket in his mouth – the rest of it was dragging along in the dirt. He dropped it at me feet, looking up at me and wagging his tail. "You're lucky I love you," I grumbled, patting the top of his head.

It didn't take them long for the dwarves to strap their bags back on the ponies and then mount up. I packed away my blanket and then hefted myself back up into the saddle. Once Thorin gave the order, we all moved out.

* * *

They next few days passed in much the same matter. Every time we stopped I would unsaddle and brush down the ponies. In the morning I would get up early and saddle up the ponies in time for everyone to wake up. I quickly got to know all the ponies and each of their quirks – and the places they loved to be scratched. Once you figured out where a pony likes to be scratched, you'd basically control it.

The sleeping arrangements remained the same as well. Every morning when I woke up, Edbert seemed to have claimed all, or most, of my blanket. I got used to it quickly and let him get away with it. I could not find the heart to tell him off when he dragged the blanket back to me every morning.

It was another normal day on the road, but it had been raining all morning and the mood of some of the dwarves was soured. I didn't mind the rain as much as everyone else because I was getting a free bath. I had been worrying about my hygiene the last few days, but this temporally put a Band-Aid on that problem. Eddy loved the rain too – he was running around and rolling in the muddy puddles. The horses were all wet and muddy as well, which would make grooming them a pain tonight.

"Mr. Gandalf, can't you do something about this deluge?" Dori called out to the wizard over the sound of the pouring rain.

"It is raining, Master Dwarf, and it will continue to rain until the rain is done. If you wish to change the weather of the world, you should find yourself another wizard," Gandalf responded dryly.

"It seems the rain is souring the wizard's mood as well as the dwarves' mood," I whispered to Greg as I brushed some of my wet hair out of my face.

"…Are there any?" Bilbo asked after a pause.

"Other what?" Gandalf replied.

"Other wizards," Bilbo clarified for him.

"There are five of us, the greatest of our order is Saruman, the White. Then there are two blue wizards… You know, I've quiet forgotten their names," the old Wizard admitted and I laughed quietly. How do you forget your college's names?

"And who is the fifth?" Bilbo pressed.

"Well, that would be… Radagast, the Brown," Gandalf answered.

"Is he a great wizard… Or is he more like you?" Bilbo asked tartly. One of my hands went flying up to my mouth to cover it so that I didn't burst out laughing. I was not expecting such a line to come from the hobbit's mouth.

"I think he is a very great wizard… In his own way. He is a gentle soul who prefers the company of animals to others. He keeps a watchful eye over the vast forest-lands to the east, and a good thing too, for always evil will look to find a foothold in this world," Gandalf admitted calmly, not taking much notice of Bilbo's remark.

* * *

The amount of rain had caused the rivers to swell up, water sweeping past their banks at a fast pace. One of these rivers was in our way, and we had to cross it. Gandalf crossed on his horse first, finding a path for the dwarves and their ponies.

Most of the dwarves' ponies went across without too much drama, the water lapping at the mounts' chests. The river was flowing strongly, but not strongly enough to sweep a pony off its sturdy feet.

Some of the ponies were not pleased at the thought of crossing such high water, but after a bit of coaxing and slow moving, we eventually got them across. Kili's pony was being the worst behaved of all of them, and was refusing to go anywhere near the water. The only ones left on the other side of the river were Fili, Kili and me.

"Come on, Dawn," Kili urged his pony, nudging it as he tried to get it to move into the water. The said pony danced nervously back and forth by the water's edge, throwing her head up in the air.

"I can lead her if you want," I offered as Greg flicked his tail impatiently. "Maybe Greg can encourage her to get in the water."

"That may be wise," Fili agreed with a nod of his head. "And I'll stay behind so she can't go back."

"Okay," Kili relented and I directed Greg over next to Kili's pony. Kili handed over the reins to me so that I could lead her, and he clutched onto her shaggy mane.

With a click of my tongue and a squeeze of my legs, Greg wadded onto the water. Dawn's eyes rolled nervously and she stamped her hoof down on the bank, refusing to enter the water. Kili squeezed his legs and I pulled on the reins, urging the stubborn pony towards the water.

Normally I wouldn't have forced the pony to go in the water, but we didn't have much choice at the moment. There was no bridge, and this was the only way across. We couldn't leave her behind.

She took a nervous step forward and one of her hooves stepped in the water, causing her to throw her head up in the air and pull back. I gripped her reins as tightly as I could, refusing to let her go back. I was hoping the reins would hold out and not snap.

She stood still for a few seconds as Kili patted her shoulder, encouraging her to take another step forward. The bay pony walked in the water until it was up her knees and then refused to move an inch further.

I sighed and glanced at the rest of the dwarves who were waiting impatiently on the other side of the bank. Edbert was also over the other side of the bank, sitting down and watching our struggle with Dawn. He looked he wanted to jump in help, but he knew better than to move without orders.

Fili's grey pony started to wade into the river as well and that convinced Dawn to move forward a bit more, the water reaching up towards her chest. The water was just past Greg's knees, so Greg wasn't bothered at all.

"Almost there, Dawn," I cooed at the pony as we took another step forward.

She went to take another step but her foot slipped on something under the water, causing her to pitch her shoulder into the water. Kili tipped off into the water with a cry and Dawn stumbled away from the loud splashing noise that the dwarf made.

Before anyone could do anything, Dawn threw herself into Greg, causing him to stumble as well. With a frightened snort, my horse reared in the river, tossing his massive head into the air. I let out a squeak, leaning forward and clutching onto Dawn's reins even harder as my arms wrapped themselves around Greg's neck. Greg pawed the air and I heard some of the dwarves calling out to Kili and I. Edbert, seeing that I was in trouble started barking loudly from the river bank. Dawn tried to get away from us, but I held onto her reins.

As Greg's front feet dropped back into the river, Dawn spun around and kicked at my horse, landing a solid kick on his rump. I was hoping that Kili had been able to get out of the road of the flying and stamp hooves, because I knew from personal experience that getting trodden on wasn't fun.

Greg decided that he'd had enough, and he kicked out as well, knocking me off balanced before bolting forward. By now Dawn's reins were tangled in my hand and I didn't have time to let go before Greg jumped forward. I was pulled straight off the back of my horse by Dawn who tried to go back the way we'd come from.

I hit the rushing water with an audible smacking sound, the cold water swallowing me straight away. The coldness of the water caused all my breath to leave my chest, leaving me dizzy as the water rushed around me. I hit the riverbed as Dawn's hooves stamped around me, her reins yanking me to the side. I knew that if I stayed under the water, Dawn was likely to trample me, so I stumbled back up, gasping as my head broke the surface. Dawn reared as I appeared from out of the water, and the force from the reins was enough to help me straight up, the water now reaching my midsection.

"Whoa!" I coughed, trying to calm down the hysterical horse. "Whoa, girl. It's okay. Shh."

Kili appeared by her head, reaching out to grab her bridle so that she couldn't rear anymore. The young dwarf looked a little waterlogged, but he seemed okay other than that, which was a relief to me.

Dawn tried to throw her head up in the air, but Kili kept his firm grip on her bridle, sliding his hand over to pat her on the neck. I stepped forward as well, sliding my numb hand up to clutch her reins right under her chin. Dawn quickly stopped moving, standing there and panting as she calmed down.

"Kili! Are you two okay!" Fili yelled as he rode his pony through the river towards us. The other dwarves were also calling out to us from the bank, and Edbert was still barking annoyingly loudly.

"We're fine!" Kili yelled back to his brother as he reined his grey pony in right near us.

Water dripped off every part of my body as I stood there in the swollen river, my heart beating a million miles an hour. I couldn't but letting a little giggle at how ridiculous this whole situation was. "First tomatoes, then plates and now ponies?" I teased him, grinning widely through the strands of wet hair that were plastered on my face.

"I-I-" he stuttered in a bewildered manner, looking at me with wide eyes. I snickered at his expression, sending him a teasing grin.

"Fili, help them get out of the river!" Thorin barked from the bank, scowling at us. I shrunk under his harsh glare, my stomach flittering nervously. Thorin was hard enough to deal with on a normal day, let alone on a day that I'd almost let his nephew drown.

"Come on," Fili sighed and both Kili and I started to urge Dawn towards the other side of the river, not bothering to mount back up. I used the reins to lead her, and Kili kept the grip on her halter so that she couldn't rear up again. This time she came without too much of a struggle, seemingly happy about the idea of the getting out of the water.

We both trudged out of the river, dripping wet and looking like drowned water rats. I handed Dawn's reins back over to Kili and Edbert came barrelling forward, jumping at me. He rested his wet paws against my hip and I reached down to pat the top of his head with numb hands.

Fili's pony stepped out of the river, shaking off as Thorin nudged his pony towards Kili and I. The rest of the dwarves, Bilbo and Gandalf all stood back.

"Are either of you injured?" he asked in a gruff voice, eyeing us.

Biting my lip I dropped my gaze down to the ground and mumbled, "No."

"Just a bit wet," Kili shrugged like a kicked puppy, not happy that his uncle was upset at us.

"Good. Mount up. We'd best get moving before we lose too much daylight. You should dry off on the ride," he said before turning his pony around and kicking it into a walk.

As soon as his gaze was off of me, I let out a breath I didn't know I'd been holding, my shoulders slumping. Thorin was scarier than my grandfather when he was angry.

"Here's ya beast," Bofur called out as he walked his pony towards us, leading Greg by his reins. I was glad that someone had caught him.

"Thank you, Mr. Bofur!" I gasped, stepping forward to accept his reins. I quickly checked him over, making sure that Dawn's kick hadn't done any damage. Luckily he seemed fine, only a miffed about the whole ordeal with the river.

My body started to shake a little from the cold so I quickly rung out my hair and the edge of my clothes, trying to get out as much water I could. I then vaulted up onto Greg's back, nudging him into a walk as we all moved away from the river.

Cleaning the ponies off tonight would be a pain.

* * *

**Thank you Elrohir Lover Zabuzasgirl and Gladoo89 for the reviews! :) I decided to improvise and include a little bit of the book in this chapter. Although, I changed it around a lot. In the book, one of the ponies bolts into a river and almost drowns Fili and Kili. So, I tried to add the scene in whilst still making it believable! Oh, and no, there won't be any romance in this story. I suck at writing romance. xDD **


	6. Chapter 6

**"It is much more comfortable to be mad and know it, than to be sane and have one's doubts."- G. B. Burgin**

* * *

We walked our ponies and horses up a hill, towards and old ruined house that was on the edge of the forest.

"We camp here for the night," Thorin ordered and everyone dismounted and started to tie down their ponies. "Fili, Kill, help the girl look after the ponies. Make sure you stay with them."

I stiffened as he said that, glancing his way in confusion. I'd managed to take of the ponies by myself so far – why did he suddenly decide that I needed help? It had been several days since the incident at the river, and nothing else had been brought up about it. He couldn't suddenly be angry about that, could he?

Thorin had already turned his back on me, so I didn't get to see the look on his face. With a huff I undid the packs on Greg's back, throwing them on the ground more roughly then I needed to.

"Oin, Gloin, get a fire going," Thorin directed, walking towards the old house. I neatly slid off Greg's back- I was so used to his height now that I didn't even have to calculate my dismounts or mounts anymore. I then moved him off to the side of the group, tying him away from the others so that I didn't have to meet their eyes. I didn't know what I'd done to upset Thorin, but I was feeling guilt and shame over it.

"Get a grip, Scott," I hissed to myself, running my hand through my hair to try and calm myself. Something nudged the side of my leg and I looked down to see Eddy, head tilted to the side in confusion. "Hey, Eddy," I sighed, patting him before I started to silently unsaddle Greg.

Edbert, noticing that something was wrong with me, didn't run off to scout the camp like he normally would. Instead he sat down not far from me, watching silently. Sometimes that dog could read me so well it was scary.

"Everything alright?" Bilbo asked the wizard that was walking past him. "Gandalf where are you going?"

I looked over to the old wizard in confusion as he announced, "To seek the company of the only one around here who's got any sense."

"And who's that?" Bilbo questioned.

"Myself, Mr. Baggins!" he snapped, stalking off.

"Oh this day just keeps getting better and better," I grumbled, burying my face into Greg's mane. "Lucky it's almost done."

"Miss Scott," A voice called from behind me and I jumped, a blush crawling on my cheeks. I hoped that they hadn't heard what I'd just said. I slowly turned around to see Fili and Kili there, smiling widely. "Don't let what our Uncle said get to you."

"Pardon me?" I asked, frowning like a spoilt child. Don't let it get to me? He'd insulted me and hadn't even told me what I'd done wrong!

"Our Uncle only wants us to help you with the ponies because we so close to the forest," Fili clarified. "Dangerous things roam the forest at night, he just wants to make sure to watch the ponies so that nothing happens to them."

"Oh," I mumbled, my blush going even redder. I'd acted like a child, getting my knickers in a knot without even thinking the whole situation through. In Australia there weren't many dangerous things in the forest other than snakes, spiders and alligators. The dingoes didn't normally attack – unless you were a baby - so they didn't count. "Oh. What dangerous things?"

The both looked at each other before Kili answered me, "Just the usual – orcs, wargs, fairies, trolls and ents."

I looked sceptically at both of them, my brows furrowed. After they'd tricked Bilbo and I last time, I wasn't about to trust them. After a few seconds are staring at them, I asked, "Have you heard of the boy who cried wolf? It's a story."

"…No," Fili answered, unsure about my sceptical attitude.

"Hmm, how about this - I'll tell you the story of the boy who cried wolf whilst you help me with the ponies. In return, you guys tell me what exactly wargs, trolls and ents are," I bargained, smiling at them once more.

"You don't know what wargs, trolls and ents are?" Kili sounded aghast at my lack of knowledge.

"You don't know about the boy who cried wolf," I pointed out cheekily, quirking one of my eyes brows.

"You, Miss Scott, have yourself a deal," the brothers answered at the same time.

"You can call me Scott, it's easier." I crinkled my nose. "Miss makes me sound old."

They both laughed and I grinned widely, my mood once again happy.

* * *

"…this time no one came to the help the boy because they all thought he was lying about the wolf being there. The wolf, not believing his luck, decided it was meal time. So, instead of eating the lambs this time, he pounced on the boy. Without mercy the lying boy was torn apart and eaten by the wolf. After he was finished with the boy, he chomped on a few sheep as well. Then, before any of the villages came, the wolf strolled off," I recited, adding my flare to the story.

The sun had long set and the brothers and I were still grooming the ponies. Because I had help, I decided that I was also going to brush all their manes and tails tonight, so that took up extra time. Fili and Kili were rather good with the ponies and seemed to know what they were doing, so we talked as we worked.

"Why didn't he fight back against the wolf?" Kili asked in confusion.

"Because he was just a child and he had no weapons. The children were not expected to fight the wolves, they were only expected to be there so they could call the adults for help," I explained. "I'm done, what about you guys? Ready to move on to the next set of ponies?"

"Sure," Fili agreed, grabbing their few brushes and walking off towards our last set of ponies.

"So, what are wargs?" I asked, trailing after them with Edbert by my side.

"Wargs are like the wolves in your story, but they are a lot bigger – and a lot uglier," Fili explained for me.

"…How much bigger?" I questioned cautiously. Giant, ugly, wolves. Great.

"They're about as big as the ponies, and the orcs ride them sometimes," Kili said in a serious voice, so I could tell he wasn't kidding. Even better. Giant, ugly, rideable, wolves.

"…What do they ea-" I asked only to get cut off half way through when I almost ran into Kili's back. "Why did you stop?" I peered around his side, squinting my eyes so that I could see in the darkness. My face went pale when I saw why the stopped.

The ponies we were meant to brushing were gone. Nowhere to be seen. Disappeared without warning. "Oh no, the ponies!" I exclaimed. "They're gone!" I slipped past the brothers, looking around the area for them. "Maybe they just got loose…" I blinked awkwardly, staring at the spot they were meant to be. Goodness knows the last thing I needed was another reason for Thorin to be annoyed at me.

While the three of us were staring at it in shock, trying to process it, Bilbo walked up behind us and stepped in between the brothers. He held out a bowl of stew for the both of them, but the three us didn't pay attention. Edbert was the only one who looked at him.

"…What's the matter?" he asked after a pause.

"We're supposed to be looking out for the ponies," Kili began.

"Only… We've encountered a slight problem," Fili finished for him.

"I think it's a big problem…" I mumbled, glancing at Bilbo.

"We had sixteen," Kili pointed out.

"Now there's… fourteen," Fili stated.

"We're missing two of them…" I whispered.

"Are you sure? Maybe you should count them," Bilbo asked, turning his head to look at the other ponies scattered around the place.

* * *

Kili and I quickly ducked in between all the ponies, counting them and making sure we knew which ones were here and which ones weren't.

"Daisy and Bungo are missing," Kili called out as Bilbo, Edbert, Kili and I made out way over to Fili.

"They're nowhere to be seen!" I exclaimed, starting to panic. How could lose two important ponies! They were meant to be under my care!

"Well… That's not good," Bilbo laughed nervously, not letting go of the bowls he carried. "And that is not good at all…" His voice rose a pitch when we saw what Fili was staring at. There were a few trees that had been knocking completely out of the ground, their roots sticking up in the air. "Shouldn't we tell Thorin?"

"Uhh, no," Fili disagreed. "Let's not worry him."

"Somehow I don't think it was the ponies that knocked those trees out of the ground!" I protested.

"As our official Burglar, we thought you might like to look at it," Fili said, ignoring my comment.

"Well, uh," Bilbo stammered as we all looked at him. "Look like something big uprooted these trees." He gestured to the trees with his hands that were _still_ holding the stew.

"That was our thinking," Fili agreed as we walked around the area, scrutinizing the trees.

"What could have done this? I thought you were joking about the things in the forest!" I questioned, nervously placing my hand against the bark of the tree. Edbert was walking around, sniffing the ground vigorously, meaning that he didn't recognise the smell.

"Something very big… And possibly quiet dangerous," Bilbo continued.

"Hey!" Fili said suddenly enough to draw everyone's attention. "There's a light." He crouched down, peering through the bushes. "Over here." He waved us over before slinking off through the bushes.

"Eddy, hush," I ordered him so that he didn't make any sounds. He knew some commands that came in handy around horses, and now seemed the time to use some of them. "Close." I patted my leg and he pressed himself against my leg, silently following me as I followed Fili, Kili and Bilbo.

"Stay down," Fili hissed under his breath as we all crouched behind a fallen log, looking towards a light that seeped through the trees. As soon as we stopped moving I scooped Eddy up in my arms, holding him against my chest so that he couldn't run off suddenly.

Both Eddy and I stiffened when an ominous laugh echoed through the trees from where the light was coming from. "What's that!" I whispered harshly, glancing at the brothers.

"Those, Scott, are trolls," Kili replied in a low voice.

"I thought you were kidding when you said there were trolls in this forest!" I gasped, trying to keep my voice as quiet as I could.

Without replying Kili and Fili jumped over the logged and slunk closer to the light and the sound. Bilbo and I looked at each other before following them. I wasn't about to be left _alone_ in the dark when there were trolls around. I dropped Eddy back on the ground, ordering, "Hush. Close. Low."

Bilbo finally put those damn stew bowls down and took a few steps to follow before he turned around, went back, grabbed them and then followed. I paused, waiting for him whilst rolling my eyes. We ran through the forest for a few second before the brothers dove behind another log. I was confused for a few seconds before I noticed that the ground was shaking under my feet. Something massive was coming.

I dropped straight to the ground, throwing one of my arms over Eddy so that he was pressed against the ground too. Bilbo ducked behind a tree as the thing finally came into sight. Edbert started growling at it but my other hand shot out, clamping down on his muzzle to shut him up. "Hush!"

I looked up when I heard a panicked whinny from a pony and what I saw shocked me. A giant creature was walking through the trees – not around, he just walked straight though them, not caring that they fell to the ground – and under his arms were two more of our ponies. They weren't even the ones we were looking for, these ones were two different ones.

"He's got Myrtle and Minty!" Bilbo hissed as the creature disappeared from sight.

"Oh no!" I gasped, worried for the ponies' fates at the hands of the trolls. "What will they do with them?"

"I think they're going to eat them," Bilbo whispered, creeping over to the brothers. I let Eddy go, crawling towards them on my hands on knees. "We have to do something!"

Both the brothers looked at Bilbo, a planning forming in their minds. "Yes," Kili agreed, nodding his head.

"You should." Fili jumped up, placing his hand on Bilbo's back and pushing him forward. "Mountain Trolls are slow and stupid, and you're so small-"

"No, no!" Bilbo protested.

"They'll never see you. It's perfectly safe. We'll be right behind you," Kili reassured him, taking one of the bowls off of him.

"If you run into trouble, hoot twice like a Barn Owl, once like a Brown Owl," Fili said, taking the other and pushing him after the troll again.

"Wait! The ponies are my responsibility! I'm going with him!" I argued, creeping after him before anyone could stop me.

"Twice like a Brown Owl…" Bilbo muttered to himself as I snuck up next to him, keeping my eyes on the troll. "Once… Like a Barn owl… Are you sure this is a good idea?" We both turned around only to see empty forest. The two little pains had both disappeared, leaving Bilbo, Edbert and I alone with the troll.

"Great," I hissed under my breath as we both stared at the empty space.

"Mutton yesterday," the voice of the troll complained as he continued tromping through the forest. I was so shocked by the voice that I jumped, grabbing onto Bilbo's arm without thinking about. Eddy was scared too, he stuck his nose under the edge of my skirt, lifting it up before pushing himself in between my legs, growling under his breath. "Mutton today. And blimey if it don't look like mutton tomorrow."

Bilbo took a deep breath, straightening his jacket as he said to me, "It's dangerous. You should stay here."

"Never," I responded, my voice shaking. "I won't leave the ponies to be eaten." I removed my hand and looked down, meeting his eyes and showing him that I was serious. He nodded silently and we both started to creep forward, Eddy not leaving my side for a second.

"Quit your gripping!" another troll answered. "These ain't sheep, these is fresh nags!"

"I don't like horse!" a third one complained. "Never have. Not enough fat on 'em."

Bilbo and I finally laid eyes on the trolls as we squatted down at the edge of the clearing. There was a fire set up with a cooking pot over it. Around the fire were the three trolls, and behind them, in a pen, were the four ponies we were looking for. I scanned them quickly, and they looked mostly uninjured for now – although they were prancing and shuffling nervously. If anything set them off, they could panic and injure themselves or each other.

"Well, it's better than the leathery old farmer," one pointed out. "Skin and bone he was. I'm still picking bits of him out of my teeth."

"Wait here," Bilbo order as he snuck silently off towards the trolls. I did as he said, squatting down behind a bush with Edbert. My heart started to beat a little faster at the thought of being left alone around the trolls, but Ed pressed his nose against my side, reminding me that he was still there.

My hand automatically reached out to pat the top of my dog's head, and I noticed that my hand was shaking. It wasn't just my hand – my body was shaking too. It was the fear of the trolls that was making the fear instinct kick into my body. It was different from a panic attack though. This time it wasn't all in my head, I had an actual physical threat that was causing my body's reaction.

"ACHOO!" one of them sneezed so loudly that I had to bit my lip to stop myself screaming in shock. I felt Edbert jump as well, pressing himself closer to my side.

"Well, that's lovely, that is! A floater!" another troll said, standing up.

"Might improve the flavour!" pointed out the last.

"Oh, there's more where that came from!" the sneezing troll called out, holding out his hand and sniffing.

"Oh no you don't!" the other one snapped, grabbing him by the nose and twisting it so hard that he stood up.

"Oww! Ow! Ow! Ow! Owww!" he whined, flailing.

"Sit down," the rough one grunted, letting go and shoving the sneezing troll back down onto his log.

"Oh," he grunted, as his butt connected with the wood. He then pulled out a handkerchief and sneezed into it, "Achoo!"

'_They really are thick_,' I thought to myself, stroking Ed's head in an attempt to keep him calm. '_That's just… foul. Mr. Baggins better be careful._' I looked in his direction and I saw him fiddling with the rope that was holding the ponies' pen together. He seemed to be having troubles getting it undone.

"I 'ope you're gunna gut these next," sneezy said, standing up to look at the ponies. My heart skipped a beat as he almost saw Bilbo, but the hobbit hid at the last second. "I don't like the stinky parts… Oww!" he howled, covering his head as the gruff troll smacked his with his cooking ladle.

"I said sit down!"

"Oww," sneezy whined again, sitting back down.

"I'm starving, are we havin' 'orse tonight or not?" the last one complained.

"Not if I have anything to say about it," I whispered shakily to Edbert.

"Shut your cake-hole!" gruff answered. "You'll eat what I give ya."

"How come he's the cook?" the complainer replied. "Everything tastes the same. Everything tastes like chicken."

"Expect the chicken," sneezy pointed out

"What tastes like fish," complainer agreed.

"Come on Bilbo, what are you doing!" I mumbled as he approached one of the trolls from behind.

"I'm just saying a little application would be nice," gruff grumbled, stirring the pot. "Thank you very much, Bert. Lovely stew, Bert. How hard is that? Hmm, it just needs a sprinkle-"

I gasped, slapping my hands over my mouth as one of the trolls reached behind him for something, almost grabbing Bilbo. Luckily he just missed him, grabbing a large cup instead.

"Here! That's my grog!" Bert snapped as sneezy was about to take a drink.

"Uhh…" sneezy paused, looking at Bert. "Haha… Sorry." He put it back down on the ground, only to get smacked with the ladle again. "Oww!"

Bert then used to ladle to test taste some of his cooking, "Oh, that is beautifully balanced, that is!"

"Wrap your lot around that, ay," Bert said, offering the ladle to sneezy. The troll took a sip of the mixture. "What do ya think? That's why I'm the cook."

Just as Bilbo went to grab something off of the back of one of the trolls, the troll stood up, scratching his buttocks right in Bilbo's face. I crinkled my nose, feeling rather sympathetic to the hobbit. And then I noticed what Bilbo was going after, he need to knife that was on the trolls waist. I mumbled, "Oh please, _please_ don't let anything happen to him."

After having a good scratch the troll, sneezy, sat back down.

"My guts are grumbling, I've got to snuffle something. Flesh, I need flesh!" complainer complained… yet again. It's a wonder that they weren't eating him.

"Ah..." sneezy got ready to sneeze again and he reached behind him to grab his handkerchief. But, instead of grabbing his handkerchief, he grabbed Bilbo and blew his nose on the poor hobbit without noticing. I gagged, bile rising in the back of my throat at the sight. Blood and guts I could stand – I had to be able to stand it to work around horses – but troll snot was another matter entirely.

"Oh… Oh gods…" I gasped, not sure whether to be worried about the fact that he was covered in snot, or the fact that he had been caught.

"Ahh!" sneezy screamed, standing up and staring at the hobbit in his hand. Poor Bilbo laid in his hand, snot covering him. "Blimely! Bert! Bert! Look what's come out of me hooter! It's got arms and legs and everything!" the other trolls stood up and stood around him, all staring at Bilbo.

"What is it?" Bert asked.

"I don't know," sneezy admitted. "But I don't like the way it wriggles around!" He threw Bilbo to the ground and Bilbo quickly scrambled to his feet and stood too face the trolls.

"What are you then?" complainer demanded, holding a knife towards Bilbo. "An over-sized squirrel?"

"No, I'm a burglar," Bilbo admitted before correcting himself. "Ah, hobbit."

"Mr. Baggins…" I whispered quietly, trying to figure out what I should do now.

"A burglaobbit?" sneezy asked in confusion.

"Can we cook it?" complainer asked.

"We can try!" sneezy yelled, lunging for Bilbo.

"NO!" I screamed louder than I meant to, jumping up from behind the bush.

* * *

**Sorry guys, I didn't change much in this chapter. It'll be the same for the next one too. Sorry! As always, thank you Elrohir Lover, Isildur's Heiress, Zabuzasgirl and Gladoo89 for your reviews! **

**And I've noticed that not many people know a lot about Kelpies because they're mostly an Australian dog. So, I've found a short Youtube clip that will explain Edbert's breed to you if you want to watch it! Just open up Youtube and paste the bit below on the URL. **

**/watch?v=DDaBJOMdOsY**


	7. Chapter 7

**"When ideas fail, words come in very handy."- Goethe**

* * *

"Stay!" I commanded Eddy, and without thinking I ran towards Bilbo as he dodged the troll's hand. Bert ran around a tree, cutting off Bilbo's escape route.

"He wouldn't make more than a mouthful," Bert pointed out. "Not when he's skin and bones!"

I ran past Bert's leg as he swung his ladle at Bilbo. Jumping at the hobbit, I grabbed his arm and pulled both of us to the ground before we could get hit. The ladle went rushing past our head as we flattened ourselves to the ground. As soon as it was past I scrambled to my legs, dragging the snot covered Bilbo with me. I didn't have time to worry about touching the snot - I was going to worry about that later while I emptied my guts.

"Miss Scott!" Bilbo gasped as I tried to drag him towards the forest and away from the trolls. Unfortunately we didn't get far before complainer stepped in our road, pointing a knife at us. We both stopped and my grip on Bilbo's arm tightened. I could feel my whole body shaking with fear as I stood before the giant troll and I was sure that Bilbo could feel it too. I'd followed my gut by trying to save Bilbo rather than using my brain. I'd rushed out and looked where it got both of us.

"Look! There's another one! Perhaps there's more burglaobbits around these parts," he called out, swing his knife at us. With a cry Bilbo and I stumbled back and this time Bilbo tried to drag me with him. "Maybe enough for a pie! Grab 'em!"

They all pounced on us, swinging their hands and weapons in an attempt to catch us. Bilbo duck under the swing and I had to drop to my hand and knees to avoid the blows because I was taller than him. Seeing that I was slowing him down I let go of his arm, yelling, "Go! Run! I'm right behind you!"

The hobbit ran between sneezy's legs and I tried to crawl after him, but something wrapped itself around my midsection. I felt it squeezing me roughly as I was lifted off the ground. I cried out in shock and I heard Bilbo do the same in the background.

"Got'cha!" I found myself face to face with one of the ugly trolls and I looked to the side to see Bilbo being help upside-down by another.

"Are there any more of you lil' fellas hiding where you shouldn't?" complainer asked, pointing the knife at Bilbo.

"Nope," Bilbo answered, struggling against the grip of the troll.

"He's lying!" Sneezy said whilst shaking me. I was so terrified that I was about to die that I couldn't even scream. "Where'd this one come from then?"

"No I'm not!" Bilbo protested.

"He's not!" I agreed with a shaky voice. "We're alone! Just the two of us!"

"Hold their toes over the fire!" sneezy demanded.

"No!" Both Bilbo and I gasped at the same time and I snapped, "We're not lying!"

"Make 'em squeal!" sneezy continued, smiling at me with a twisted grin.

"ARGH!" Someone let out a battle cry and glanced over the troll's hand in time to see Kili appear out of the bush, swinging his sword at sneezy's foot. It ended up being sneezy that done the squealing as he threw me roughly to the ground, clutching his leg.

I hit the ground with a grunt, all the air rushing out of my lungs. Kili slashed at sneezy again and the troll ended up falling on his ass while Kili yelled at complainer, "Drop him!"

"Kili!" I gasped in relief, pushing myself up onto my hands and knees. Kili stepped in front of me in a protective manner, swinging his sword as sneezy scrambled back up to his feet and retreated closer to his friends.

"You what?" complainer demanded, still holding poor Bilbo upside down.

"I said… _Drop_ him," Kili repeated as I pushed myself back up into a standing position.

With an enraged growl, complainer pulled his arm back and threw poor Bilbo straight at us, sending him flying through the air. Fili only just managed to catch to the hobbit, but he was knocked off his feet and I was forced to try and catch both of them before they hit the ground. Just as I managed to steady them and keep them on their feet, there was another loud cry and all the dwarves ran out of the bushes with weapons held high. Help had arrived.

The dwarves' strength and fighting ability was a force to be reckoned with. They all charged in and started attacking the trolls, working together without words or a plan. It was amazing to watch the small warriors – they had the trolls hopping around and screaming in pain.

Kili was quick to recover and joined his kin the fray, leaving Bilbo and I standing on the side lines. I heard panicked neighing from the ponies and I looked over and saw them rearing and kicking each other and the confines of the pen. I thought I'd see one of them get injured any second, but a brown dot sped out of the trees, jumping over the fence and landing amongst the ponies' hooves.

"Edbert!" I yelled when I noticed that it was my dog. Edbert danced around their hooves, trying not to get kicked as he nipped at their heels, pushing them into the corner of the pen. He barked loudly as he pushed them tightly together so that they couldn't move or kick and then he stood there, staring them down and daring them to move. That was Edbert's true nature. He was a herder through and through, and he was going to hold the ponies there until I ordered him off. It wasn't the first time he'd done something like this – although the situation wasn't so dire the other times.

"Bilbo! The ponies!" I said, pointing over to them. "We have to let them out!"

"Right!" he responded and he ran into the fray, dodging dwarves and trolls. I quickly followed him, but I took my own path because everyone was moving so quickly. By now my fear had disappeared, being replaced by pure adrenaline. I had to save Edbert and the ponies as quickly as I could – nothing else mattered anymore.

I saw all the dwarves fighting as I dashed past them, and I even saw a few wide eye looks as they saw me dashing through the battle field. I didn't have time for any of that chivalry crap. When shit goes down _everyone_ needs to contribute – even the women.

I beat Bilbo to the horse pen and without a second thought I jumped the fence, landing in with ponies. It was one of the most dangerous places to be if they freaked out, but I needed to keep them calm until Bilbo got something to cut the rope so we could open the pen.

"Shh," I cooed at the ponies. "It's okay. Everything is fine. We'll get you out of here in a second. Relax. Calm." I crept slowly towards the ponies, trying not to upset them anymore than they already were. When I got close enough I noticed that they had white showing in their eyes, lather on their coats and saliva dribbling from their mouths. They were beyond scared and sane. They had no reason left – it was pure instinct.

"Good boy, very good boy," I told Edbert, petting him on the head as I walked past him. He wagged his tail slightly but he didn't move from his position which was keeping the ponies contained. I walked past him, reaching out to pet Minty on the nose. He flinched violently away, throwing his head up and thrusting his font hoof out. It connected with my shin causing me to gasp in pain, but I didn't back down. "Hush Minty, good boy. Calm." I tried again, placing my hand on his neck and this time he didn't flinch away. I slowly started to stroke his neck, whispering calming things to him and the other ponies over the noise of the battle.

I glanced back over my shoulder and I saw that Bilbo was cutting the ropes to the pen with a large troll knife. I knew that as soon as the ponies saw their freedom they would go through Edbert and I to get to it. Move too early and they would trample Bilbo. The timing needed to be exact.

I stepped away from the ponies, pressing myself to the side of my fence. I watched Bilbo, and the moment I saw the rope snap, I whistled Eddy over to me, holding out my arms. He need to encouragement to run and jump into my arms and I pressed myself flat against the pen as the ponies rushed forward.

"Oh, thank goodness!" I exclaimed, letting Edbert jump back to the ground. We'd finally done what we'd come for. We'd rescued the ponies. Bilbo and I both shared a look of triumph with each other, my look quickly turn to a look of horror when I saw a troll hand reaching for Bilbo. "Watch out!"

I was too late to warn him. The hand snatched him up mercilessly and before anyone could stop the trolls, Bilbo was being held up by two of them. Each of them had an arm and leg in each hand, stretching him out in front of the dwarves that were forced to regroup and gather in front of the trolls.

"Bilbo!" Kili called out, attempting to charge the trolls.

"No!" Thorin roared, grabbing him and pulling him back.

"Lay down your arms!" complainer demanded. "Or we'll rip his off!"

There was a tense few seconds as the dwarves squared off with the trolls, but Thorin was the first to relent, thrusting his sword into the ground. Slowly all the other dwarves lowered their weapons too. I looked nervously down at Edbert, unsure what was going to happen now. I was so busy worrying about freeing the ponies that I didn't think of my fate. I didn't really want to die and be eaten by trolls… I always thought I'd die in a riding accident.

* * *

The trolls quickly rounded us up like cattle, shoving the lucky ones of us in dirty old sacks with only our heads sticking out. From the smell of them, it wasn't the first time they'd been used. The unlucky ones were stripped to their undergarments, strapped to a pole and placed over the camp fire.

Eddy and I were lucky enough to be shoved in sacks too, although it was more cramped for me than anyone else. Because I was so tall my knees were pulled up against my chest in the sack. Poor Edbert has been dumped in the sack and tied up with no hole for breathing. He'd growled and struggled for a few minutes, but then he gave up and he was now lying silently.

"Don't bother cooking 'em," sneezy whined as they threw some more wood on the fire. "Let's just sit on 'em and squash 'em into jelly.

"They should be sautéed and grilled with a sprinkle of sage," mused Bert, turning the pole the unlucky dwarves were tied to.

"Is that really necessary?" one of the dwarves yelled over the muttered complaints of the rest of them.

"Oh, that does sound quiet nice…" sneezy mumbled.

I was uncomfortable enough about being shoved in a sack, but to make matters even worse all of us where thrown in one pile, everyone squished together uncomfortably. Apparently this didn't suit the dwarves so they were constantly wriggling, grumbling and snapping at each other. I somehow ended up wedge between Kili and Gloin, and Edbert's sack was over next to Throin.

"Never mind the seasoning," complainer argued. "We ain't got all night! Dawn ain't far away! Let's get a move on. I don't fancy being turned to stone."

"Well, that's an interesting piece of information," I whispered to myself.

"Wait!" Bilbo yelled to the trolls, apparently picking up on that line like me. They all looked over at Bilbo as he said, "You are making a terrible mistake."

"You can't reason with them, they're halfwits!" Dori yelled from his place on the spit.

"Halfwits! What does that make us?" Bofur demanded and Bilbo managed to wiggle himself up onto his feet.

Bilbo hoped forward a bit so that he was standing to the side of our pile, "I meant with the seasoning."

"What about the seasoning?" Bert demanded, bending over to look at the hobbit.

"Well, have you smelt them?" Bilbo asked, jerking his head back at us. "You're going to need something stronger than sage before you bake this lot."

"Traitor!" Gloin yelled and the other grumbled their protest. I was getting sick of hearing the dwarves moaning, they were worse than a bunch of PMS'ing women.

"What do you know about cooking dwarf?" complainer demanded, still turning the spit.

"Shut up," Bert snapped. "Let the burglaobbit talk."

"A-Ah, the secret to cooking dwarf is, umm…" Bilbo stammered, trying to come up with something off the top of his head. I was mentally praying that he wouldn't mess this up.

"Yes?" Bert urged. "Come on!"

"A-Ah," Bilbo hesitated.

"Tell us the secret," Bret snapped, getting impatient.

"The secret is…" Bilbo hesitated I lifted up my head to look at him. "To… Skin them alive!"

"Fantastic," I hissed, letting my head drop back on the ground. A whole new wave of complaints rose up amongst the dwarves as they yelled at Bilbo.

"Tom, get me filletin' knife," Bert demanded.

"What a load of rubbish!" complainer spat. "I've eaten plenty with their skins on, boots and all."

"He's right," sneezy agreed, getting up and walking over to us. "Nothing wrong with a bit of raw dwarf!" With that said, he reached forward, grabbed the bottom of Bombur's sack and lifted him above his open mouth. "Nice and crunchy."

"Let him go!" I yelled, struggling in my sack. I wasn't about to sit still and watch one of my friends get eat.

"N-Not that one!" Bilbo stuttered. "H-He's infected!"

"Huh?" sneezy gasped, turning to look at Bilbo.

"You what?" complainer questioned.

"Yeah, he's got worms in his… Tubes," Bilbo continued with his lies and they were getting worse and worse by the second.

"Eww!" sneezy cried, throwing Bombur back onto out pile and straight onto Kili and I. We both grunted under the weight of the dwarf.

"In fact, they all have!" Bilbo assured them. "They're infested with parasites. It's a terrible business. I wouldn't risk it, I really wouldn't."

"Parasites?" Oin demanded. "Did he say parasites?"

"We don't have parasites!" Kili yelled out as all the dwarves started arguing and complaining again. They didn't know when to zip their lips. "You have parasites!"

At the same time Thorin kicked his loud mouth nephew and Oin and I jabbed my elbows into Bombur and Gloin's side. They all shut up straight away, looking at Thorin and I. They seemed to figure out just by the looks on our faces and the changed their tunes straight away.

"I've got parasites as big as my arms!" Oin yelled out to them.

"Mine are the biggest parasites! I've got huge parasites!" Kili joined in and then they all started yelling about their infestations of parasites.

"What would you have us do then?" complainer demanded, leaving the spit turning to sneezy as he walked towards Bilbo. "Let 'em all go?"

"Well," Bilbo mused.

"You think I don't know what you're up to!" the troll snapped, jabbing Bilbo with his large fingers. He then walked back to the spit, saying, "This little ferret is taking us for a fool."

"Ferret?" Bilbo complained, offended by the name, although that was the least of his worries.

"The dawn will take you all!" A loud voice echoed over the clearing and everyone look up to see none other than Gandalf standing on a rock with his staff raised.

"Who's that?" complainer asked.

"No idea," Bert replied.

"Can we eat him too?" sneezy enquired.

Gandalf brought his staff down on the rock he was standing on, neatly snapping it in half so that the light of the dawn shone through onto the clearing. The trolls all started screaming, flinching away from the light as they covered their faces. They were too late though, their bodies started to turn to stone, freezing them in place.

Everyone was silent for a second before they all started cheering. Even I sighed in relief, squeezing my eyes closed so that I didn't start crying. I'd come way too close to death and I was not happy about it.

* * *

Everyone was quickly let free of their sacks, and the dwarves that were over the fire were taken down. Bilbo was the one to let me out of my sack and I thanked him before letting Edbert out. As soon as the sack was opened, Edbert jumped out and attacked my face with licks and yips. Apparently I wasn't the only one who was glad about not dying.

I knelt on the ground for a few minutes, patting and cuddling my dog to calm myself down. While I was doing that, the dwarves from the spit redressed themselves, and I politely averted my eyes so that they didn't feel uncomfortable. I wasn't uncomfortable because even in their undergarments they were still fully covered, but where they lived it was impolite to walk around like that. It would have been the equivalent of me walking in public with only a bra and nickers on.

After everyone was properly dressed and ready, Thorin decided that he wanted to find the cave that the trolls were staying in. Because they couldn't stay in sunlight, they must have had shelter not far from the clearing, and for some reason Thorin wanted to look at it.

So, off we went, not getting much of a break after our near death experience. We smelt the cave before we saw it, and it was rancid. Edbert, who normally liked smelly things, refused to go too close to it. I figure that he had the right idea and I'd refused to go inside as well. A few of the others had the same idea and we waited outside the cave for the others to explore it.

"Mr. Baggins," I called, walking over to Bilbo. "Are you okay? Those trolls were pretty rough."

"Oh, Miss Scott," Bilbo greeted. "I'm fine, thank you. Are _you_ okay? You were very brave back there."

"I'm fine, just a little dirty," I laughed, looking down at my once white shirt that was now patches brown and green. "And I was hardly brave, I was terrified. I just wanted to save the ponies, that was all. I would never forgive myself if something happened to them."

"Well, we did save them. I wonder where they are now?" Bilbo mused.

"Long gone," I sighed, biting my lip. "I've seen horses bolt when scared before, and they can get a long way away. The ponies also ran the way of the camp, so they probably stirred up all the others. The chances of the ponies and horses being there when we get are pretty minimal… If not impossible. Well, we'll find out when Ori and Bifur get back from scouting the camp anyway."

"Oh," Bilbo mumbled, probably thinking about his pony. I was worried about Greg too. He could be a bit skittish, so he'd probably bolted too.

"Bilbo, Scott," Gandalf called as he stepped out of the cave, walking towards us. "Here." He placed a large sword in Bilbo's hands and he passed a small dagger to me. I accepted it, staring at it with confusion. "These are about your sizes."

"I can't take this," Bilbo protested, shaking his head.

"Your blade is of Elvish make," Gandalf explained. "Which means it will glow blue when orcs or goblins are nearby." He then turned his head to me. "Your dagger is also of Elvish make, Miss Scott. It is generally a type of dagger gifted to elvish women for their protection."

Bilbo glanced around at the dwarves before lowering his voice and saying, "I have never used a sword my whole life."

"And I've never used any sort of sharp weapon either…" I mumbled, turning the dagger over in my hands as I slipped it out of its cover. The dagger was as long as my forearm and it was made from a smooth silver metal. Around the bottom of the bottom of the blade, near the hilt, there were three bands imprinted into the blade.

"And I hope you never have to," Gandalf replied. "And if you do, remember this – true courage is not about knowing when to take a life, but when to spare one."

"Something's coming!" Thorin yelled, drawing everyone's attention to him.

"Gandalf," Bilbo started to say.

"Stay together!" Gandalf ordered the dwarves, drawing his blade and walking towards them. "Hurry now! Arm yourselves!"

"Edbert, heel!" I called and he was by my legs in seconds, his ear pricked up. Before I knew what was happening, all the dwarves had their weapons in their hands and they were charging away from the cave and to open ground in the forest. I slipped my dagger back into its cover and then I slipped it into the band of my breeches so that I wouldn't lose it.

I started to follow the dwarves, but I looked back to see Bilbo still standing there, slowly drawing his blade to get a good look at it. "Bilbo, come on!" I called and his attention was drawn back to the present. He quickly caught up to me and we followed the dwarves.

The dwarves stopped in a small clearing in the forest, everyone gathering in a group so that they could defend themselves. I ended up standing next to Bilbo and Gandalf with Edbert at my side.

We all jumped when something came tearing out of the bushes, yelling, "Thieves! Liar! Murder!" No one attacked though because we were all staring in shock at what had appeared. It was a sleigh, being led by a bunch of rabbits, and there was a crazy looking man on the sleigh itself.

The sleigh stopped in the middle of us and the man panted heavily, glancing around at us all.

"Radagast!" Gandalf called out in greeting and everyone started to lower their weapons. "It's Radagast the Brown." Gandalf walked forward to greet his friend. "What an earth are you doing here?"

"I was looking for you, Gandalf!" he replied in a jittery manner. "Something's wrong. Something's terribly wrong."

"Yes," Gandalf prodded, waiting for him to spit it out.

Radagast took a deep breath, open his mouth to talk and then paused, holding up a finger. He tried to talk a few times but paused at the last second every time. All the rest of us were looking amongst ourselves in confusion.

"Just give me a minute," Radagast requested. "Oh, I had the thought! Now I've lost it! It was right there on the tip of my tongue!" He paused for a few seconds. "Oh, it's not a thought at all. It's a silly old stick insect." He stuck out his tongue, and sure enough, there it was. Gandalf, without hesitation, lifted the bugged off of Radagast's tongue and then dropped it back onto his hand, unfazed by his behaviour.

* * *

**Thank you Zabuzasgirl, Isildur's Heiress and Elohir Lover for the reviews! ^^ Again, not much changed from the original chapter, sorry. Things will start changing once they get to Rivendell, I promise. **


	8. Chapter 8

**"It's not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the **dog."- Mark Twain

* * *

Gandalf and Radagast had moved away from us to have a private chat and the rest of us waited for them to finish. I wasn't paying attention to that, I busy trying to stop myself from laughing at Edbert.

Edbert's mind had officially been blown. What was drawing the sled was a team of large rabbits and they waited, attached to the sled, while Radagast talked to Gandalf. Eddy was staring at them in shock and it had taken me a few minutes to figure out why. They were in two straight lines. There was a group of something and they were neatly lined up one in front of the other, side by side. Eddy's brain was not sure how to process such beauty, so he just stood there, staring at them.

While waiting for Gandalf, I found a moss covered rock and sat down on it, finally noticing how tired I was. I hadn't gotten any sleep last night, and I'd almost been killed. I needed a rest. Edbert decided that sounded like a good idea because he jumped up, sprawling himself across my lap. He then continued to stare at the rabbits while I ran my fingers through his fur, picking all the burrs and dirt out of his coat.

Everything was calm until a howl suddenly echoed amongst the trees of the forest. Edbert stiffened straight away and he tried to jump from my lap, but I wrapped my arms around him and pinned him to my chest. He growled and I hissed, "Hush!"

"Was that a wolf?" Bilbo asked as I slipped off the rock, standing up and placing Eddy gently on the ground. "A-Are there wolves out there?"

"Wolves?" Bofur repeated. "No, that is not a wolf."

"Wargs…" I whispered under my breath. The brothers weren't kidding.

Every hair on Eddy's body was standing on end and he was showing all his teeth in a vicious snarl. It unnerved me more than the wargs did because I'd never seen him like this before. I watched Edbert carefully as his head snapped around to stare at a spot above some rocks. I followed his line of vision in time to see a massive creature appeared there, and with a growl it jumped down, bounding towards us.

"Watch out!" I yelled as it charged the group of dwarves, knocking Dori to the ground. Thorin pounced on it, swinging his sword straight at its neck. The metal easily bit through the flesh, taking down the warg in one shot.

My stomach turned a little at the sight and sound of the attack, but it didn't faze me too much. I was used to gory injures – horses always found a way to hurt themselves. I'd seen horses that had ran themselves through fences before, and that was gruesome. There was blood and open flesh everywhere when that happened, and I was usually helping my Papps administer first-aid while we waited for the vets to get there. I'd also seen several horses have to get put down in the past, so I'd long since conquered my issues with death. The way I saw it, they were just going to sleep and not waking up anymore. They were no longer there, and it was as simple as that.

As soon as the first warg wad down, I ran forward and grabbed onto the arm of Dori who was squished under it. With one rough tug I pulled him out from under it, yanking him back up to his feet. Edbert stuck close to my legs as I moved, growling under his breath

"Thanks," Dori panted as another warg tried to jump Thorin from behind. Kili quickly pulled out his bow and arrow, shooting at the warg. His shot hit, but it only caused the warg to stumbled and trip down the hill and into the middle of our group, right near Dori, Thorin, Edbert and I.

It quickly scrambled back up to its feet, snarling and growling and I almost yelled in panic when Eddy placed himself in front of us, challenging the warg with his own growls and snarls. His tail was straight up in the air, all the hairs on it standing on edge as he growled at the warg.

Like the typical dog he was, he was scared of anything but other canines and now he was biting off more than he could chew. The warg jumped towards us, but Dwalin swung his huge hammer at it, connecting it with the back of warg's skull. With a sickening crack the creature fell to the ground, not getting up again.

"Warg scouts," Thorin grunted, yanking his sword out of the first warg. "Which means an orc pack is not far behind."

"Orc pack?" Bilbo exclaimed in disbelief.

I bit my lip, glancing down at Eddy who was still growling. The trip had started out good and now everything was trying to kill us all at once.

"Who did you tell about your quest beyond your kin?" Gandalf demanded, walking towards Thorin.

"No one," he replied.

"Who did you tell!" Gandalf repeated.

"No one, I swear!" Thorin declared. "What in Durin's name is going on?"

"You are being hunted," Gandalf explained, glancing around the area.

"Hunted? By who! Why!" I gasped, biting my lip nervously.

"We have to get out of here," Dwalin commanded gruffly.

"We can't," little Ori yelled, running towards us with Bifur. They were finally back from checking out the camp. "We have no ponies! They bolted!"

I clenched my fists at that news, frowning deeply as a sense of loss hit me. I suspected as much, but being told still upset me. All of those ponies that I got to know… And Greg, my giant, were gone. As easy as that. No goodbyes, no guarantees of safety, they were just gone.

"I'll draw them off!" Radagast volunteered as the sounds of more howls got closer.

"These are Gundabad Wargs, they will out run you," Gandalf disagreed.

"These are Rustabell Rabbits," Radagast replied, jerking his thumb towards his team. "I'd like to see them try."

* * *

We'd quickly all gone back to camp to grab what we needed from our packs now that we didn't have the ponies. I left all the grooming gear at the camp, grabbing only my cloak and blanket in a pack that was slung over my shoulder. We'd then gotten out of the forest and onto a hilly, grassy plain that was full of rocks, perfect for playing hide-and-seek with the orcs and wargs.

We'd hidden behind a large rock as the wargs and orcs got closer. Edbert was still bristling from the howls and growls around him and I shaking more than I would have liked. Dying by a warg… Being ripped to pieces and eaten whilst still alive… The idea wasn't appealing. At all. And I wasn't about to let Edbert be eaten either.

Radagast and his rabbits were at the edge of the forest, waiting for the wargs to get close to him before he moved. The sounds of their howls got closer but we couldn't see them over the rock we were behind. We had to wait and trust Gandalf who was peeking around the front of the rock.

"Come along!" Gandalf order suddenly we all started running. I had to grab my skirt again, pulling it up so that I could run properly without having to worry about tripping over. I kept up with the dwarves as we ran across the grassy plains, dodging and running between rocks to keep out of the warg's and orc's sight. Occasionally I would catch glimpses of them further off in the plains and I had to look away every time. It was less scary when you couldn't see the things you were running from.

Edbert decided that now was his time to start herding again and he loped all around the running group, going from the back to make sure they all keeping up, and then to the front to try and slow them down so they all ran at the same speed. As annoying as it was, I didn't have the heart to tell him off because he was the only one that would pay attention if someone fell behind.

We didn't stop running until suddenly the warg pack and orcs ran out from behind some rocks, running across our direct path. We all froze but we were far enough away that they didn't see us. They were all still too busy with trying to catch Radagast and his rabbits.

"Stay together!" Gandalf ordered.

"Go!" Thorin barked, waving his arm back the way we came and everyone quickly spun around, running a different way. We didn't get far before we had to stop again. As Thorin went to run out from behind a rock he halted, but Ori, who was running next to him didn't. "Ori! No! Get back!" Thorin grabbed the young dwarf back the back of his shirt, throwing him back behind the rock with the rest of us.

I just happened to be in the right place to reach out and catch him by his arm, king sure he didn't fall over, and then I pulled him back so that he was pressed against the rock next to me. He looked at me with wide eyes and I sent him a shaky smile.

We paused, waiting against that rock for a few seconds before Gandalf gave the all clear, waving at us to move. "All of you, come on! Come on!" And we were off again, running for our lives.

We managed to get a bit further this time before we ran over a hill crest and saw Radagast run past with the wargs and orcs right on his tail. Without needing to be told to, everyone ran over to the closet rock, ducking behind it. We all stood there, pressed against the rock and listening carefully for the sounds of the wargs. Edbert quickly found his way to me, pressing himself against my legs, his chest heaving and falling with his pants. My own chest was tight as my lungs tried to get more air, and my legs felt like jelly.

And then we heard it. The sound of snarling on the rock above us. There was a warg and orc on the top of the rock we were sheltering against. I stopped breathing, freezing like a rabbit as I glanced at the other dwarves to see what they would do.

Thorin nodded at his nephew, Kili, and the dwarf grabbed his bow and an arrow, stringing it up as he stepped out from the rock. As soon as the warg noticed him, it growled and Kili neatly shot the arrow, causing the creature to growl every louder, jumping towards the dwarf. Kili fired a second arrow and hit it, causing the beast to fall to the ground in front of us.

The warg screamed loudly in pain, not yet dead from the two arrows, although it couldn't get back to its feet even when it tried. The orc that was riding on its back jumped up, charging us with his sword raised. Dwalin and Bifur ran forward with battle cries, attacking the orc. Thorin followed them, helping Bifur with the orc, and Dwalin tackled the warg, slamming his hammer down on the beast's skull. Part of me found the attack disgusting, but the other part of me was amazed at the skills and strength that the tiny dwarves possessed.

The sounds of the wargs stopped for a few seconds, drawing our attention at the silence. Then, when they started up again, they were heading towards. The screams of the warg and orc we'd just killed had not escaped their notice, and they now knew where we were.

"Move! Run!" Gandalf yelled and we bolted, not worrying about hiding behind the rocks anymore. Now it was a full on sprint to try and outrun the wargs on our tails. My legs felt like jelly and I thought they were going to give out any second, but I kept running. Even Edbert's strength was dwindling and he just stuck to running at the back of the group, making sure that no one fell behind.

We got half way up a hill before Gloin pointed in front of us and yelled, "There they are!"

We all stopped again and Gandalf yelled, "This way! Quickly!" For about the sixth time we changed direction, running in a different way. We were like headless chickens. We managed to make it over another couple of hills before the wargs and orcs appeared at the top of the next hill, staring us down.

I spun around, trying to find another way to go but wherever I looked more wargs and orcs seemed to be popping up, surrounding us. "There's more coming!"

"Kili! Shot them!" Thorin roared as I noticed that everyone was spread out around the area, trying to find a way to escape. I somehow found myself standing with only a snarling Eddy by my side. My once precious friend now looked like a rabid animal, all his teeth showing with salvia dripping down from his muzzle.

"No, no, no!" I moaned, tears building up in my eyes as I slipped my hand in my skirt, resting the palm of my hand against the handle of my small dagger. I quickly blinked them away, trying to think clearly so that I could figure out a way to get us free. I refused to die here. Not right now. And I wasn't about to stand around while my friends were killed too.

"We're surrounded!" Kili yelled and everyone started to make their way towards their leader, gathering back up in a group.

"Lass!" A loud voice bellowed and I gasped when a hand wrapped itself around my wrist. I looked to the side to see Bofur standing there, one hand on my arm, his weapon in the other. "Come on!" Eddy snarled viciously at him, snapping at Bofur's leg. It was at the moment that I realised my lapse in clear-headedness was causing my dog to act like that. He was relying on me for his cues, and when I was giving him none, he relied on his animalistic instincts.

"Eddy! No! Stop! Hush!" I barked my orders out to him and almost instantly he responded, his deep brown eyes looking at me for guidance. As soon as Eddy looked at me with his depending eyes, I felt a wave of calm wash over me. Eddy needed me. I had a job. I couldn't be freaking out right now. "Sorry, Bofur. Sorry," I apologised as I let him drag me back to where everyone was regrouping.

"Where's Gandalf?" someone yelled as Bofur and I reached the main group. The dwarf let go of my arm, pushing me behind him and he stood there, facing the approaching wargs with his weapon in hand.

"He's abandoned us!" Dwalin yelled as he joined the main group as well. The wargs and their riders slowly started to move in on us, and everyone waited, weapons raised. I slipped my hand in my skirt, finally drawing out my small dagger. I held in in my right hand, fingers curled tightly around the hilt. It wouldn't do much, but if I was going down, I wasn't going down without a fight.

Ori drew back his little slingshot, firing a small rock at one of the riders. It hit the head of his warg and caused it to snarl, but it did no damage.

"Hold your ground!" Thorin ordered as they continued to close in. Closer. Closer. Closer.

"This way, you fools!" Gandalf's voice suddenly called out and I spun around to see him standing behind a rock where he'd found a tunnel.

"Come on, move!" Thorin ordered everyone as Gandalf ducked behind the rock.

Bofur spun around, grabbing my wrist again as he dragged me with him towards the hole. When we reached Gandalf and the hole, Bofur pushed me in with no warning which almost caused me to stab myself with my dagger. I let out a sharp shriek as I slid down a rocky slide, everything spinning around me. My skirt even slid up around my waist from the friction, but I was saved by my breeches yet again.

I rolled to a sudden stop at the bottom, quickly scrambling up to my feet when something else came down the tunnel. It was Edbert. He stopped rolling when he slammed into my legs, knocking me back to the ground again. I wrapped my dagger free arm around him, scooting backwards on my butt as more people started to come down as well.

"Go, go, go!" Thorin yelled at the entrance, urging more dwarves down.

I quickly slid my knife back into its cover, wrapping both arms around Edbert as I stood back up. The dog whined nervously in my arms, licking my chin as I took a few steps back out of the road. One by one everyone joined us in the tunnel until we were all gathered there.

A horn sounded from outside the tunnel and then we heard the thundering of hooves and the sound of battle. Everyone stared tensely at the entrance, unsure what was going on. Suddenly something came tumbling down the entrance and everyone parted, allowing it to roll past them. I pressed myself against the wall as it rolled to a stop near me, causing me to stare blankly. It was a body of an orc, an arrow imbedded in its neck. Gandalf decided he needed to poke it with his staff to test if it was alive or not, as if the arrow sticking out of it wasn't obvious enough.

As much as the sight of it disgusted, I was so shocked that I couldn't draw my gaze away from it - even when Thorin walked over, placing one foot on its chest as he yanked the arrow out to check it. It was the first chance I had to see an orc up close, and I couldn't help but notice how truly ugly they were.

"Elves," I heard Thorin grunt with distain as he threw the arrow to the ground in disgust.

"I cannot see where the tunnel leads," Dwalin called and I looked up to see him walking deeper into the tunnel. "Do we follow it, or no?"

"Follow it, of course!" Bofur replied, walking deeper into the tunnel without hesitation. I dropped Edbert to the ground and followed behind Bofur who was following Dwalin. From there all the other dwarves joined the line as we walked through the small tunnel. Once we exited the main part of the tunnel, the walls shot up for meters and at the top was clear sky. It turned from walking into a tunnel, to walking in a large crack.

It was a relief to not have to run anymore as we followed the path for as far as it took us. There were a few parts where we had to turn sideways and squeeze through, but everyone managed to get through. After a while it opened up to a small path on the side of a cliff. I gasped when I saw what was beyond the cliff.

There, lying in front of us, was a beautiful looking city nestled amongst the valley. There were waterfalls and water running through the whole town, pooling into a river at the bottom of the city.

"Where are we?" I asked in curiosity.

"The Valley of Imladris," Gandalf answered. "In the common tongue it's known by another name."

"Rivendell," Bilbo elaborated, although that still meant nothing to me.

* * *

We walked silently down the path that led to Rivendell, walking over a bridge that took us into the city itself. Gandalf led the way and the dwarves followed without saying a word, the tension in the air was almost palpable. I was aware that they dwarves didn't like the elves, but they surprised me with their hostility at the idea of going to an Elven City.

At the end of the bridge was a small circle courtyard with stairs at the end of that. On the stairs, guarding them, were two tall beings dressed in amour. I hadn't seen an elf before, but I was going to take a guess say that they were elves.

Everyone gathered in the court yard, glancing around in curiosity and caution. Edbert was smelling everything in reach and I just stood in one spot, watching him carefully.

"Mithrandir," a voice called out and we all looked up to see and elf walking down the stairs.

"Ah, Lindir!" Gandalf greeted the elf.

In return the strange elf said something in another langue that left me confused. I looked around, and from the looks on the dwarves faces, they had no idea what he'd said either.

"I must speak with Lord Elrond," Gandalf requested.

"My Lord Elrond is not here," the elf replied, using language all of us could understand.

"Not here?" Gandalf repeated. "Where is he?"

Before the elf got a chance to reply, the sound of horns echoed across the area, causing me to stiffen. It was the same horn that sounded when the wargs and orcs had been attacked. Everyone spun around, facing the bridge that we had just crossed.

I heard the beating of hooves and the cry of a horse before I saw them. A line or riders and horses cantered across the bridge towards us. It was Thorin's turn to yell something in a language I didn't understand before yelling, "Close ranks!"

Before I knew what I was happening, someone latched onto the back of the back of my shirt, yanking me back amongst the dwarves as they all squished together in a tight circle. The younger dwarves, Bilbo and I were pushed into the centre. I found the dwarves' loyalty and protectiveness rather endearing, and flattering.

Although I appreciated the gesture of them trying to protect me, it didn't work very well because I was taller and could see right over their heads. Eddy, not wanting to be separated from me, pushed his way between the dwarves' legs before plastering himself to my side.

I rested my right hand on the band of my skirt so that I could easily grab my dagger if need be. The horses came swarming into the platform, forming two trotting circles – one going clockwise and the other going anti-clock wise.

It wasn't the horses I was scared of - if fact, I couldn't help but noticed how beautiful and fine boned they were – it was the looks that the elves were giving us, that had me scowling. Most of them were sneering and staring at us with calculating expressions. There was no sign of welcome on their face. I was starting to see why Thorin and the others hated the elves so much. I already disliked them too, even if their horses were stunning creatures.

* * *

**Again, not a lot changed (although it'll be a different case in the next chapter). And thank you to ZabuzasGirl, Elrohir Lover, Isildur's Heiress and Zephyr for your reviews. You guys are awesome. **

**In reply to your review, Zephyr, I must admit that I am confused. Yes, this fanfiction is based off the book, not the movie. Unfortunately, there is no "Hobbit" category in the movies section. So, the book section was the only place I could put this fanfiction - if that's what you mean. :) **


	9. Chapter 9

**"I don't mind living in a man's world as long as I can be a woman in it." -Marilyn Monroe**

* * *

The horses that were circling us suddenly stopped, no cue needed. An elf atop of a black horse called out, "Gandfalf."

"Lord Elrond," Gandalf replied fondly. He then touched his hand to his heart before sweeping his arm out, bowing his head and saying one word in another language. The word confused me even more because it sounded like he said "Mellon Pin", which isn't exactly the best thing to say to someone who is a "Lord".

After that Gandalf and Lord Elrond conversed shortly in another langue that I couldn't understand. Lord Elrond smoothly dismounted his horse, walking towards Gandalf and embracing him. The next words that he said I could understand. "Strange for orcs to come so close to our borders." He held up an orc blade to prove his point, and then he handed it to Lindir. "Someone, or something, has drawn them near."

"Ah, that may have been us," Gandalf admitted, gesturing towards our little group that had now relaxed and separated a bit.

Thorin suddenly stepped forward from our group, walking up to Lord Elrond and Gandalf. Lord Elrond greeted him, "Welcome Thorin, son of Thrain."

"I do not believe we have met," Thorin replied gruffly.

"You have your Grandfather's bearing," Lord Elrond said. "I knew Thror when he ruled under the mountain."

"Indeed. He made no mention of you," Thorin retorted rudely. He was not kidding when he said he hated all elves.

Lord Elrond took a deep breath in before saying something in his odd language straight to Thorin's face.

"What is he sayin'? Does he offer us insult?" Gloin snarled, pushing his way to the front with his weapon raised.

"No, Master Gloin, he's offering you food," Gandalf replied causing the dwarves to go silent for a second. They then huddle together, whispering amongst themselves for a few second before breaking up.

"Ah, well," Gloin said, stepping forward again, "in that case, lead on."

I laughed out loud, slapping my hand over my mouth to muffle the sound. Seconds ago they were bristling like cats, and then the mention of food turned them into a bunch of harmless kittens. Lord Elrond sure knew how to win over dwarves.

"Lindir, please show the dwarves to the dining hall," Lord Elrond requested. The elf complied and the dwarves eagerly followed him up the stair case. I was about to follow them when Lord Elrond called for my attention. "My Lady, I extend my courtesy to you as well. I have a daughter of my own and I like to think I understand the minds of women – as far as any man can. If you'd like to refresh yourself before the meal, I can organise that."

I paused, staring awkwardly for a few seconds as I tried to process what he'd just said. He'd basically said that he'd organise a bath for me if I wanted one because I probably looked like a mess. I glanced down at my clothes and I just realized how dirty I looked. My once white shirt had no white left on it what so ever. I was lucky my skirt was black so I couldn't tell what that was covered in.

I felt my face go bright red at my appearance and I grabbed my skirt, crusting clumsily. "My Lord, you have my thanks for your courtesy. I'd like to take you up on that offer if I may. I do believe it may be inappropriate for me to walk around your halls while dressed in such a state."

"While you are in my halls, we shall do everything we can to make you comfortable. If you need anything, all you need do is ask," he replied, smiling.

* * *

Lord Elrond had handballed me off to a female elf who told me that she was going to show me where I could bathe. She took me to what she called a "Washing Room", where there was a large tub full of warm water. I wash a bit shocked that it was warm already, but the elf explained that it was prepared when it appeared they had visitors.

"Here are some soap and a towel for you," the polite elf explained, placing the items next to the tub. "Would you like assistance in undressing and bathing?"

"Oh!" I gasped in shocked, looking at her with wide eyes. "No, thank you. I wouldn't want to force you to do that. I'm more than capable of undressing and bathing myself. "

"There's no need to be shy," the elf smiled kindly. "I'm here to assist you."

"Thank you, I appreciate the offer," I laughed nervously. "But, where I come from, it's very uncommon for someone to let another wash them."

"I understand," she said, dragging a large folding screen out from the wall, placing it in front of the tub. "If it makes you feel comfortable, you can undress behind this screen and pass me your clothes over the top. I will wash them for you."

"Thank you, unfortunately I do not have anything to change into afterwards," I explained awkwardly, not wanting to admit that I'd spent quiet a lot of time in the same clothes.

"Worry not, I will organise something for you to change into," she reassured me, pushing me behind the screen. "Leave it to me and wash before the water goes cold."

I ordered Eddy to lie next to the bath, and then I did as she said, undressing behind the screen and passing her my clothes. The only things I kept with me were my riding boots, bag and my dagger. She didn't comment about my breeches, bra or underpants. Then, when she left, I slipped into the warm water, groaning loudly. It felt so good to finally be able to wash. I sunk fully under the water, staying there for as long as I could.

Once I resurfaced I started the long task of washing myself, trying to get rid of the layers of dirt that I had accumulated on my skin. While I was doing that, the polite elf returned and told me that she was placing my change of clothes on the other side of the screen. I thanked her and she disappeared again, leaving me to bath. As soon as she left the second time, I called Edbert into the bath with me and he jumped straight in with no hesitation.

I made sure to take my time so that Eddy and I were as clean as I could be, even wetting and un-matting my hair and washing Edbert's fur with the soap. By the time I was done, the water had gone lukewarm – and brown - and Eddy and I were forced to get out.

I dried Eddy with the towel first, before he could shake the water everywhere, and then I dried myself. When I walked around the side of the screen I almost died where I stood. There, neatly laying on the ground was a green gown and a pair of white slippers. I hadn't thought far enough ahead to question what the elf would bring me – and now I regretted it. Skirts were hard enough for me to put up with, and now I had to wear some fancy, _green_, dress. Green, the same colour as my eyes. It was a thoughtful gesture, but I didn't know what it'd look like when I put it on with my pale skin.

"Oh Eddy, what am I going to do!" I moaned, picking it up off the ground and holding it up. I didn't want to be ungrateful, and it's not like I could walk around naked, so I really didn't have much choice. With a sigh I slipped the gown on, wriggling and trying to fit in it. They sure made their dresses tight. Although, they didn't wear bras, so it was probably to make sure their breasts didn't pop out at any second.

Once the dress was on I wasn't worried so much. It was very soft and comfortable to wear, and it wasn't frilly, it was nice and flat over my chest and stomach, and then the bottom pooled out like a skirt.

I walked back over to the tub and leant over the water, looking at my reflection on the surface. A frown crossed my face as I saw what I looked like. While traveling with the dwarves, I wasn't under the constant pressure to look pretty and worry about how I dressed. I wasn't a small, petite woman who looked great in almost anything. I was a tall and had the broad shoulders of a man. My face was square and plain with my green eyes and wavy auburn hair. Compared to the beauty of the female elves, I was hideous. I wasn't what most men would consider to be pretty.

I stepped back from the tub with a sigh, running my hand through my hair. I shouldn't care what I looked like. That was just societies' pressure. I don't think the dwarves would judge me for what I looked like. They hadn't so far.

A knock on the door drew me out of my musings. "Yes?" I called out.

"Are you done, Lady Scott? I am to escort you to the dining hall when you ready," the voice of the female elf called out.

"Oh, yes, I think I'm ready. Thank you," I called nervously, glancing down at my dress again. "Uh, what do I do with my bag and boots though?"

She opened the door and beckoned me forward, "Come then. I'll have your other belongings taken to you room."

* * *

The elf led me to a small beautiful balcony that overlooked the city of Rivendell. All the dwarves were already seated around a table, digging into their meals. There were also some elves playing musical instruments while they ate, so that they had music. It was all a bit over the top. I automatically had the feeling that I wouldn't fit in and I went to stop, but the elf put her hand on my back and pushed me forward.

"Go," she urged me, smiling softly.

"Thank you so much for everything," I thanked her before walking up the steps and making my way onto the balcony. My face was feeling hot, and I was sure that it was bright red with embarrassment. I prayed that no one noticed me as I snuck over to the dwarves table.

I slunk into a spare cushion next to Bilbo, mumbling, "Hello, I do hope that I am not too late." Eddy quickly ducked under the table, lying down at my feet. No one else noticed my arrival thankfully.

The hobbit jumped at my sudden appearance, his eyes going wide as he looked at me. "Oh, Miss Scott! N-No, you are not late. There is still plenty of food left for you." I saw his eyes flick nervously down to look at my dress.

"You don't have to say anything - I know I look weird in a dress. They're not something that I would normally wear, but I wasn't given much of a choice," I laughed, glancing down at myself as well.

"Oh, no!" Bilbo protested, going red. "I think it suits you, Miss Scott."

"Thank you," I replied, not really knowing what else to say. I wasn't used to compliments.

"Ah, lass! You're finally here," Bofur called from across the table. "The elves didn't do anything questionable to you, did they?" He was talking so loudly that all the elves in the area heard him and glanced our way.

"N-No," I stuttered, getting even more flustered. "They didn't do anything questionable to me."

Gloin huffed, grumbling, "Watch out for yourself, I still don't trust them."

"I will," I replied, looking down at the table awkwardly.

* * *

Later that evening, when the sun had set, Gandalf requested that Bilbo, Eddy and I stay behind, with Lord Elrond, Thorin and Balin as well. I had no idea why, but I complied anyway, staring after the rest of the dwarves as they left. Our little group had then gathered at the bottom of the steps leading to the balcony, the moon as our only light source. My lazy dog was sprawled over the steps, sleeping soundly.

"Our business is no concern of elves," Thorin protested.

"For goodness sake - Thorin, show him the map," Gandalf grumbled, causing Bilbo and I to send each other confused looks.

"It is the legacy of my people," Thorin replied as Balin paced back and forth near him. "It is mine to protect, as are its secrets."

"Save me from the stubbornness of dwarves," Gandalf growled. "Your pride will be your downfall. You stand in the presence of one of the few in Middle Earth who can read that map. Show it to Lord Elrond."

Lord Elrond just looked at Gandalf and then at Thorin. I stared at the ground, twisting my hands behind my back. I couldn't figure out why I was at this meeting, the tension was driving me insane. After a few seconds of silence, Thorin took something out of a pocket on the inside of his shirt and Balin grabbed his arm, saying, "Thorin, no!"

Thorin shrugged off the arm, walking up to Lord Elrond and handing over his map. The elf unfolded the piece of paper. "Erebor?" Thorin and Lord Elrond stared at each other for a few seconds before the elf asked, "What is your interest in this map?"

"It's mainly academic," Gandalf lied smoothly. "As you know, this kind of artefact sometimes contains hidden text. You still read ancient Dwarish, do you not?"

Lord Elrond looked closely at the map, reading off some text in another language. Gandalf realized what he was talking about and mumbled, "Moon runes. Of course it is." Bilbo and I both looked and Gandalf and he smiled back at us. "An easy thing to miss."

"Well, in this case that is true. Moon runes can only be read in the light of a moon of the same shape and season as the say on which they were written."

"Can you read them?" Thorin questioned.

* * *

Lord Elrond led us all to another platform that had waterfalls running over the top of the large roof. In the centre of the platform was a large crystal with a flat top. It was quite a pretty place.

"These runes were written on a mid-summers eve, by the light of a crescent moon, nearly 200 years ago," Elrond explained as he placed the map atop of the crystal table. Thorin, Lord Elrond and Gandalf gathered around it while Bilbo, Balin and I stood back, staring silently. Eddy was so sick of moving around that he lent against my leg in a sitting position, his eyes closed. I could barely hold myself upright, let alone hold both of us up. I was looking forward to going to sleep. "It would seem you were meant to come to Rivendell. Fate is with you, Thorin Oakenshield. The same moon shines upon us tonight." The clouds suddenly shifted to show off the moon light that fell directly upon the crystal table.

As the moon shone on the parchment, blue runes started to appear on it. "Stand by the grey stone when the thrush knocks," Lord Elrond read. "And the setting sun with the last light of Durin's day will shine upon the keyhole." The elf picked the map up again.

"Durin's day?" Bilbo asked.

"It is the start of the dwarves new year, when the last moon of autumn and the first sun of summer appear in the sky together," Gandalf answered.

"This is old news," Thorin grumbled. "Summer is passing, Durin's day will soon be upon us."

"We still have time," Balin reassured him.

"Time for what, if I may ask?" I questioned in confusion. Most of what they had been saying didn't make much sense.

"To find the entrance," Balin replied. "We have to be standing in exactly the right spot, at exactly the right time. Then, and only then, can the door be opened."

"So this is your purpose?" Lord Elrond asked. "To enter the mountain?"

"What of it?" Thorin demanded.

"There are some who would not deem it wise," the elf cautioned, offering the map to Thorin.

Thorin took back the map just as Gandalf answered, "What do you mean?"

"You are not the only guardian to stand watch over Middle Earth," Lord Elrond said cryptically before turning on his heel and walking away.

It was silent for a few seconds before I decided to speak up. "I do not mean to be rude, Mr. Gandalf, but I have a feeling that you didn't call me along just to hear that…"

"Right you would be, my Dear," he replied as everyone turned to look at me. "I wanted to talk to you about the fact that we no longer have any ponies or horses for you to take care of. Your services are no longer required."

I froze, my whole body going rigged as I processed what he'd just said. They didn't need me. I was useless. Edbert, feeling my body stiffened, looked up at me in confusion. "Oh…" I breathed.

"I wanted to talk to you and Thorin about this," Gandalf continued. I glanced over at Thorin, noticing that he was looking Gandalf with a calculating expression that didn't give anything away. I couldn't tell what he was thinking. "What do you plan to do now, Miss Scott?"

I blinked numbly, not sure how to reply. "I-I…" I stammered. "I don't know."

"Gandalf, we can't just leave Miss Scott behind!" Bilbo protested loudly.

"The girl should have realized by now that the journey is dangerous. We've been attacked more than once," Thorin grunted, levelling me with a look. "She done her job well while she could, but we no longer have a use for her. She can leave the company with a clear conscious that her job has been done."

"Leave?" I asked in disbelief.

"Is that what you want, Miss Scott?" Gandalf asked, and they all looked at me, waiting for an answer. I didn't know what to say. What was I going to do now? I had nowhere to go. Nothing to do. I was going to be thrown to the side.

"…I…I…" I mumbled, clenching my fist by my side. "…No. It's not what I want. I know it's dangerous! I've realized that by now. I am scared, don't get me wrong, but I won't let that fear rule me. When I say I'm going to do something, I want to finish it. I said that I'd help you get your home back, and I plan to do just that. I can't fight very well, I know that. I know that I could die, but so could all of you! I've accepted that. Please don't leave me here, Mr. Thorin. I want to help. I will do anything you require of me now that the ponies are gone. I don't care what job you give me, I will do it to the best of my ability! Please let me finish this quest with you!"

Thorin looked silently at me and I looked back at him, neither of us saying a word or backing down. Gandalf was the first to speak up. "It was fate that brought you Rivendell at the right time. And it was fate that brought you to _all _of your traveling companions. Fate will find a way, Thorin Oakenshield. You can fight it, or you can accept it."

"I will not be held responsible for your safety, girl. If you chose to continue with us, you must hold your safety in your own hands," Thorin warned.

"I understand! The only person responsible for me is myself," I gasped, smiling widely at the dwarf. "Thank you, Mr. Thorin. I will not let you down! You have my word!"

"We leave at first light tomorrow, be ready." With that, he turned around and started to walk out of the room. Balin quickly followed him, and Bilbo looked back at Gandalf and I.

"You may want to follow them, Mr. Baggins. I'd like to have a private talk with Miss Scott," Gandalf dismissed the hobbit.

"O-Oh, of course," Bilbo stuttered, scurrying off to catch up with the dwarves. I turned my head around to stare at the cryptic wizard, wondering what he was going to say.

"Miss Scott, I'm sure you're probably wondering what you're even doing here or how you got here," Gandalf said.

"Yes, I am. Your explanation last time wasn't very clear. Will I ever be able to go home? Where is my home from here?"

"It is the will of the Valar that brought you here," he explained. "The Valar also have the ability to send you home when they wish it so-"

I cut him off, "The Valar are your Gods, right?"

"In a way, yes," Gandalf answered.

"So, they brought me here. I'm guessing they didn't do it for fun either. They must have a reason. And, if that is the case, they're not likely to send me home until they feel like it – or that reason has been fulfilled," I sighed, glancing down at Eddy.

"You pick up and understand a lot more than you let on, don't you, Miss Scott," Gandalf said, a smiling tugging at the corner of his mouth. "It's no wonder the Valar picked you."

"I wouldn't say that, Mr. Gandalf," I argued. "I'm not trying to hide anything - I just normally don't speak unless spoken to. And I only notice what people allow to be seen."

"Good, that will help you fulfil this quest then. I'm glad you understand that, Miss Scott," Gandalf turned and started to walk off as well. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have other business to discuss with Lord Elrond."

I blinked awkwardly as Gandalf walked off and left me standing alone with only Edbert. My hand shot down, resting on Edbert's head as an automatic response at the thought of being left alone. I was lucky that I always had Edbert.

I swallowed nervously when I realised that I had no idea where to go, or where I was. "Umm, Eddy, it looks like we have a problem," I mumbled. "A big problem."

* * *

**I think there was a bit of a mess up with yesterday when I uploaded chapter 8. Sorry about that guys. It's working now though. **

**Thank you ZabuzasGirl and Elrohir Lover for the reviews. ^^ **


	10. Chapter 10

**"I am not questioning your honor, I am denying its existence." –Tyrion Lannister, **_**Game of Thrones**_

* * *

"How hard can it be to find a bunch of dwarves?" I asked Eddy, taking my hand off the top of his head. "They're normally loud, so they can't be easy to miss…" Edbert looked up at me, not understanding what I was saying. "Right, well, just follow the yellow brick road…" I grumbled under my breath, walking towards the exit of the observatory. Edbert followed lazily by my side, his tail waving behind him.

I walked up the steps and through a small tunnel until I came out into a deserted hallway that went both right and left. I paused, looking down both paths. "Left or right, Eddy?" Edbert looked blankly at me. "Left it is."

The silence and loneliness of the area was starting to get to me, so I hummed softly under my breath as I walked down a few more corridors, not getting any closer to any signs of life.

"That's a lovely tune," a soft voice said and it startled me so much that I jumped, one of my hands pressing itself against my chest.

"Oh!" I gasped as I spun around and looked at the newcomer with wide and startled eyes. Even Edbert jumped and pressed himself against my leg. "I'm sorry, you startled me." I couldn't help by stare at the female elf that stood before me. She was stunningly beautiful. She was taller than me, thin as a stick, had long blond hair and she was wearing the most magnificent white dress that pooled out on to the floor behind her. I had no idea how it didn't trip her up everytime she tried to walk.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to sneak up on you," she said in a soft voice that held some amount of authority in it. I couldn't help but also notice the crown on her head. I quickly deduced by the way she dressed, looked, held herself and spoke that she had to be high up on some ladder somewhere. "You _are_ as bright as they said."

"Pardon me, Miss?" I asked in confusion.

"You look lost, my child," she changed the subject, smiling kindly.

"Uhh, yeah," I laughed awkwardly. "I am a little lost. I don't suppose you know where we are?"

"I do know where we are," she confirmed. "Would you like to take a walk with me? I can show you to the stables of Rivendell. You do like horses, don't you?"

I would normally have refused to go someone with someone I didn't know, but the moment she mentioned horses, she had me wrapped around her fingers. I couldn't say "No" to seeing horses, especially the beautiful ones I saw earlier today. "I-I… I wouldn't want to bother you if you're busy…"

"Of course not, child," she answered. "I wanted to talk to you actually."

"Me?" I questioned, my brows furrowing.

"Yes, Delilah Scott. You."

I froze at those words, my whole body tensing up. "How?" I gasped, taking a step away from her. Edbert whined nervously at my reaction, looking between the strange elf and I.

"Please don't be alarmed, child. I mean you no harm. I only wish to speak with you," she tried to calm me down, using her hand to gesture down the hallway. "Walk with me and I'll explain."

I hesitated, biting my lip nervously. What was worse - being alone or being with someone who knew more about you than anyone else on this strange world? In the end I went with being alone and I followed her. Edbert placed himself in between the two of us as we walked in silence for a few minutes.

"At the risk of sounding rude, might I ask you how you knew my real name?" I asked quietly, looking at the floor rather than straight at the strange elf.

"And if my answer doesn't satisfy your curiosity?" she replied.

"Then at least I tried to understand."

'_You really are an interesting child_,' a voice in my head said and I gasped again, sending a wide-eyed look at the elf when I recognised her voice.

"Telepathy?" I exclaimed before I could stop myself.

'_Yes_,' she answered in my head again.

I gaped at her for a few seconds before saying, "That is _amazing_ Miss… I'm sorry, I never got your name."

"Galadriel," she answered

"Miss Galadriel," I repeated, mentally noting that name down. "So, if you know my real name, then you know about my world too…"

"I do," she said, and then went silent.

I took her silence as a hint that she had nothing else to say about it, so I didn't say anymore either.

"Miss Galadriel, is there any particular reason you wanted to talk to me?" I asked after a few minutes.

"I wanted to meet you, child. You're not of this world, and yet you fit in so well. You are a woman in a man's world and you have a long road ahead of you," Galadriel answered.

"A woman in a man's world?" I repeated, biting my lip as a thought about it. "But aren't you the same? We play the same game, Miss Galadriel. I was brought up to play such a game. My Papp wouldn't have had it any other way. I'm my own person, and I don't need a man to prove that."

"We still need men, Delilah." I frowned at the use of my name. "What about the dwarves you travel with? They're all quite fond of you. And I have my husband."

"I'd imagine that he is a very lucky man," I complimented. "And I must admit - the dwarves grow on you. They're not the most conventional bunch, but they're all great in their own ways. It-" I was cut off as a whinny echoed through the night air. Both Edbert and my heads snapped around to where the sound came from and I saw a large stone building in front of us that looked somewhat like stables.

"Ah, we're here," Galadriel announced, just as a male elf walked out from around the side of the building, carrying several buckets. He paused when he saw us, and quickly put the buckets down, walking up to us.

"My Ladies," he said politely, bowing as he did so.

Galadriel said something in elvish to him, and he replied in the forgiven langue. Edbert and I stood awkwardly to the side, not really understanding what was going on. I heard the female elf mention my name in the conversation, and the male looked quickly at me before turning his attention back to Galadriel.

"Child," the female elf said, turning to look at me. "This is Ysylla, he attends to the horses that reside in these stables. He will give you a tour of the facility and then return you to the dwarves. Our meeting has been enlightening, thank you."

"Oh, no, thank you, Miss Galadriel!" I gushed, clumsily curtsying to the elf. "It was a pleasure to meet you. I hope to see you again one day so we can talk again."

"I would enjoy your company again sometime. Good luck, Delilah Scott. One piece of advice – true strength comes to the worthy in their time of need," Galadriel said, smiling cryptically. She then spun and her heel and glided off, leaving me with Ysylla.

"Lady Galadriel said that you have experience with horses," the male elf said in a friendly tone that helped me to relax. I kept the warning of the dwarves in the back of my mind, but people that worked with horses were usually friendly people from my previous experiences.

"Yes, my Papp and Grammy own a stable of their own. I work for them in the stables," I replied before gesturing to my dog. "And this is Edbert, my companion who also helps."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Lady Scott, and Master Edbert," the elf said, bowing again. Eddy, hearing his name, wagged his tail and walked up to the elf, demanding a pat. Ysylla bent over and patted the top of my god's head.

I laughed and waved my hand in front of me. "Oh, I'm no lady, Mr. Ysylla. No need to be so formal."

"Miss Scott, then," he amened, straightening back up. "Come, I'll introduce you to some of our finest horses." He walked back over to the buckets and started to pick them up.

I quickly hurried over and volunteered, "Please, let me help you. I'm more than capable of carrying a few buckets." Before he could refuse, I picked up two buckets of the water and left the other two for him.

* * *

Ysylla, true to his word, had shown me around the stables and introduced me to several of the horses that were stabled and ready to rest. I was in utter awe at the elves' steads and their beauty. I'd never seen a breed of horse like them before.

After a bit of convincing, Ysylla let me help him water and feed a few of the horses, ready for their night in the stables. I managed to get myself quickly covered in horse slobber, hay and horse hair. I hoped that the elves wouldn't be too angry about the state they got my dress back in.

After an hour, Ysylla decided it was time to take me back to the dwarves. It was well into the night by now, and I was sure they were wondering where I was – although they probably thought I was still with Gandalf.

I reluctantly said goodbye to the beautiful horses and allowed Ysylla to lead me back to where the dwarves where. As we walked I talked about my horses at home, and how our stables ran. Ysylla was rather interested, and I found it relieving to be able to talk to someone who shared a common interest with me.

"We're here," Ysylla said, stopping suddenly. I came to a stop next to him and Ed paused beside me. "The dwarves' quarters are at the end of this hallway and to the left. I figure it best that I don't take you any further at the risk of upsetting the dwarves. But, I shall wait here until I'm sure you make it safely."

I blushed awkwardly at the chivalry that the elf displayed. I wasn't used to such treatment from males. "Oh, thank you - for everything. Your horses are beautiful, it was privilege to be able to meet them. And thank you, Mr. Ysylla, for showing me around the stables, I enjoyed it."

"The pleasure was all mine, Miss Scott. It has been an interesting experience to meet a human who was so interested and knowledgeable about horses. You're welcome to come visit the stables any time during your stay here," he replied, bowing politely again.

I curtsied to the elf and thanked him once more, "Thank you." I then patted my leg, signalling Edbert to follow me as I made my way down the hallway. When I got to the end of the hallway, I could hear the dwarves laughing and messing around. I turned to the left and approached the area the dwarves had been given to stay.

I walked up the steps and paused at the entry way, looking over the area. It wasn't a room like one would have thought, it was more like a large balcony area. There were no window, only railing and open space that looked over the view of the valley.

The dwarves were all spread around the area with a small floor fire going in the centre of the area. I smiled fondly at the sight of the dwarves. I'd grown rather attached to them over the days I'd been traveling with them so far - Galadriel was right.

Edbert also seemed happy to see them, and he walked over to them without hesitation. I followed him at a more sedate pace as a wave of tiredness hit me.

"Oh, Miss Scott!" Bilbo called out when he noticed me and the rest of the dwarves glanced at me. "I was starting to worry about when you'd get back. Where is Gandalf?"

"He had other business to take care of and he left me shortly after you left," I admitted.

"Left you? How did you find your way back here and what took you so long?" Poor Bilbo sounded aghast at the idea of me being left alone.

"Worry not," I laughed. "A few things happened and I managed to get a tour of the elves' stables. They have some amazing horses here."

"Don't trust them, Lass," Gloin grunted, frowning. "The elves are liable to betray you if you get close to them."

"Thank you for the warning, Mr. Gloin. I am being careful," I lied, thinking back to how nice most of the elves I'd gotent to know so far had been. "Have any of you seen my pack and belongings?"

"Yes, they are over there," little Ori pipped up, pointing to a corner of the room. I glanced that way and managed to make out a shape that looked like my pack in the dark corner of the room.

"Thank you, Ori," I said, whilst making my way over to the pile. The dwarves turned their attention back to their personal conversations and I walked up the pile. I was surprised to see my clothes there as well, as clean as the day they were made. My dagger, boots and bag was also there.

I couldn't hold back a big yawn at the idea of going to sleep, and I reached one of my hands up to cover my mouth.

"If you're tired, you should sleep," Kili said, appearing by side. I jumped slightly, unaware that he had approached me.

"We leave early tomorrow, you might as well get sleep while you can," Fili said as he walked up next to his brother with something in his arms. "Here, use this. The elves left them for us." He handed over a soft roll of bedding that would be handy to sleep on because the ground was stone.

"Thank you, Kili, Fili," I said tiredly, reaching up to rub my eyes with one of my hands while the other accepted the bedding. "I'll take your advice."

They quickly retreated back to the main ground and the rest of the dwarves left me to set up my bed in the corner of the room. I quickly made a bed and just as I about to crawl into it, Edbert appeared by my side, also looking ready for sleep.

I slipped into the bedding, making sure to face my back to the dwarves so they didn't have to look at my face while I slept. Edbert quickly crawled in with me, and I wrapped my arms around his warm body. I couldn't help but noticed the fact that the dwarves seemed to lower their voices a bit now and I smiled softly. They were very gruff and blunt, but they were all rather caring in a subtle way. I couldn't have asked for better friends. I was glad that I was continuing on the trip with them.

* * *

By first light, I was up, dressed back in my old clothes and gear. With no words of farewell, we all left, hitting the road again. This time our wizard was not with us, but he'd promised to catch up later.

"Be on your guard," Thorin called from the front of our line as we trudged up the mountain path. On one side of us was rock, and on the other side was a massive drop. "We are about to step over the edge of the wild. Balin, you know these paths, lead on." Thorin stepped aside to let Balin take the lead of our little group.

Bilbo, who was walking in front of me, stopped to look back at the Elvish City that was just within our sights. The other dwarves just stepped around him on the thin path, continuing on their way. I stopped next to him, quietly calling his name, "Mr. Bilbo?" He didn't hear me.

"Master Baggins," Thorin called, getting his attention rather quickly. "I suggest you keep up."

"Maybe you'll come back one day and you'll be able to see Rivendell properly," I suggested, trying to cheer him up.

"I think I would like that," he said quietly enough for the dwarves no to hear.

* * *

The journey was long and hard without the ponies and horses. We didn't move as fast as we did with them, and we couldn't carry as much as we did before. I quickly lost track of the days because it was always the same. We'd all wake up, pack up camp and move on. Since I no longer had the ponies to care for, I started do any odd jobs that I could. Gathering wood, washing up, looking for edible berries and plants, and anything else like that. It was a hard life, but I got used to it quickly. Edbert seemed to adjust quickly as well.

I even picked up the odd job of telling some stories some nights thanks to Fili and Kili. They remembered my story about the boy and the wolf, and they asked if I knew anymore. So, I ended up roped into telling more of my stories while everyone settled around the fire at night.

I told many stories, making sure to change details so that the stories fit into the background of Middle Earth. The dwarves now knew such tales as Robin Hood, Grimms' Fairy Tales, Gulliver's Travels, and many more. I was most familiar with the Grimms' Fairy Tales out of all the stories because they were the bedtime stories that my grandfather used to read to me. I didn't get told about Prince Charming, I was told about the wicked Queen eating what she thought was Snow White's liver. It was only in later years that I learnt such tales weren't normally told to kids before bed.

Some of them gave me odd looks at the details of gore, pain and suffering that I went into when retelling the stories, because apparently it wasn't very ladylike. I shrugged it off and purposely tried to add more disturbing details to try and disturb them – it didn't really work. They were mostly warriors after all.

By now we'd made it to some steep mountains with nothing but rock and snow to keep us company. To make matters worse, it was dark and pouring with rain, making the rocks cold and slippery. I'd been forced to put on my cloak to keep myself warm against the biting wind and rain.

Lightning flashed across the sky and thunder followed shortly after it. Edbert whined nervously, poking the back of my leg with his nose. I quickly patted the top of his head with numb and cold hands, cooing to him until he was calm again. We then continued on our way with Edbert flinching every time that thunder echoed through the mountains.

As yet another flash of lightning engulfed the area, I heard Bilbo crying out in shock, his foot slipping off the edge of the thing track. He was right in front of me, so I was the first one to see it, and the first to react.

"Bilbo!" I screamed over the rain, jumping forward to latch onto his arm. I grabbed his arm, but I'd jumped forward too far as I started to go over the edge as well. Dwalin, who was behind me, grabbed the back of my coat, yanking me roughly back. Bofur, who was in front of Bilbo, grabbed the hobbit as well and we managed to pull him back, pressing ourselves back against the mountain side. Edbert whined even more now, licking my hands.

"Thank you," I panted, turning to face Dwalin who's just saved my life. I'm sure he didn't hear what I'd said over the sound of the storm, but he nodded, understanding what I was trying to say.

"We have to find shelter!" Thorin roared over the sound of the rain and wind.

Dwalin suddenly yelled something in a strange language and we all looked up to see a giant boulder flying through the air towards us. Everyone yelled in shock as the large rock impacted on the mountainside above us, shattering into hundreds of different size pieces. I latched onto Eddy's scruff, yanking him close to me and bending over him, using my body as a shield as the shattered boulder rained down over us. All the dwarves ducked and covered their heads as well.

"This is no thunderstorm!" Balin cried as the mountain opposite us started to move. Everyone looked up. "It is a thunder battle!"

* * *

**Thank you, Isildur's Heiress, Gladoo89 and and Elrohir Lover for your reviews! ^^**


	11. Chapter 11

**"Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgement that something else is more important than fear." —Ambrose Redmoon**

* * *

"A what!" I screamed in shock as the moving mountain suddenly seemed to stand up and start moving on its own. When I looked close enough I could see that it almost looked like a human form that the rocks had taken on.

"Look!" Balin pointed at the moving rock giant as it grabbed onto a large boulder, picking it up as if it was a ball.

"Well bless me," Bofur panted as he straightened up. "The legends are true! Giants! Storm Giants!"

The large giant suddenly launched the rock it was holding and it hit another storm giant just as it walked casually around the side of the mountain. The dwarves were all crying out in shock and awe. Bilbo and I seemed to be the least impressed of our whole party.

"Take cover or you'll fall!" Thorin yelled and as the mountain under us started moving.

"Hold on!" Dwalin yelled as everyone pressed as close to the rock as they could as we moved. I was clinging to the wall with one of my hands, the other was firmly gripping Eddy's scruff so that he didn't fall off. I could hear the sounds of the dwarves crying out in shock over the sounds of the rocks cracking and breaking, but I was too scared to utter and noise - I just clung onto the rock and Eddy for dear life.

The rock near our feet started to give way and then a large crack appeared between Kili and Fili as the mountain started moving.

"We're on a giant!" I screamed when I realized that the spilt was the giant's legs, and our group was split up. The giant slowly stood up, taking us with it as it stepped forward towards the other giant. The other giant was ready for it, bringing its head forward to connect with the head of our giant, cracking part of it off as it showered us with debris.

Our giant fell back against another mountain, causing the rocks under us to swing and move. One of the legs slapped against the mountain side, giving the dwarves a chance to run off. The other dwarves, Bilbo, Eddy and I weren't quite so lucky. We were stuck on our leg while the giant staggered around, everyone clinging on for their lives.

I shrieked when Eddy's back legs slipped over the ledge, dragging him off our little platform. I didn't let go of his scruff, and he dragged me forward, knocking me off balance. I fell to my butt, legs hanging over the side as I reached forward with my other hand to grab a handful of fur on his back, yanking him roughly into my lap. I put both arms around my dog, I couldn't hold onto the rock anymore.

Dwalin, who was still next to me, grabbed a handful of my shirt, pressing my back roughly against the rock. "Hold on!" he yelled, not letting go of the grip on my shirt as he used only one hand to steady himself.

Before we knew what was happening, the two giants were letting fists fly, mercilessly punching each other. As the hits connected, more rocks were sent flying around us. I tried to look for the dwarves that had made it to safety, but the rain from the storm made it hard to see very far.

A new giant joined in the fray, throwing a rock and knocking the head off our giant's attacker. It would have been a good thing, if the head hadn't come flying in our direction, shattering just above our heads. Rocks fell against my head and shoulder, hurting enough to leave bruises – but that was the least of my worries right now.

Our giant stumbled, spinning around falling towards a rocky mountain. We went flying past the other dwarves that were safely on another ledge, and we were heading on a crash course between the giant's leg and the mountain. Between them were our puny bodies, which were going to be squished. I was too scared to scream, I could only stare in wide eye horror as the rocks flew closer.

"Get up, girl!" Dwalin yelled at me, heaving me up with his strong grip so that my legs weren't hanging over the edge. I kept my grip on Eddy as I was forced to my feet, both arms around him. "Jump!" he ordered at everyone, and, without giving me a chance to jump for myself, he shoved me roughly at the oncoming rocks, jumping after me.

I twisted so that I fell on my side, my arms keeping Eddy safe from harm. All the other dwarves and Bilbo jumped as well, landing on the rocky ledge as the two rocks clashed together. Everyone fell around the ledge, covering their heads with the hands and rocks rained down. I curled my shivering body around Edbert, burying my face into his fur.

By some miracle we weren't squished and the giant's leg fell away from the ledge, leaving us laying there in our little pile. The other dwarves that had escaped earlier quickly made their way over to us, relived to see that we were okay. I didn't uncurl from my ball until someone yelled, "Where's Bilbo? Where's the hobbit?"

I was cold, wet, scared, hungry and sore, but as soon as I heard that line, I let go of Eddy, lifting my head up. "Mr. Bilbo!" The rest of the dwarves from our group were still pulling themselves up whilst looking around for Bilbo. I spotted him first when I saw a pair of hands clinging to the mountain side. "There!" I started to crawl on my hands and knees over to the side of the ledge.

One of the hands slipped just as one of the dwarves latched onto his hand, holding him up. Bofur lent over the side too, trying to grab his other hand while yelling, "Grab my hand, Bilbo!" Bilbo couldn't reach it, so Thorin was forced to hop over the side of the mountain, clinging to the side as he grabbed the hobbit and lifted him for enough for the others to grab.

Just as the other dwarves heaved Bilbo back onto solid land, Thorin's foot slipped, causing him to let go of the mountain side. Dwalin and I both jumped forward with cries, each grabbing one of his arms. I ended up on my stomach on the rock, my shoulders, arms and head hanging on the side. "Mr. Thorin!"

Dwalin and I tried to heave the heavy dwarf up, and we both grunted with the effort. It wasn't very lady like, but I wasn't ever any good at being ladylike. In the end we managed to pull him to ledge again and I ended up my hands and knees, panting from exertion.

"I thought we'd lost our burglar," Dwalin wheezed, sitting on his butt.

"He's been lost ever since he left home," Thorin growled, getting back on his feet. "He should never have come. He has no place amongst us." With that he spun on his heel, walking along the path a few steps before spotting a cave. "Dwalin," he grunted, jerking his head towards the cave. Dwalin quickly climbed to his feet, following his leader into the cave.

It was silent for a few seconds as everyone slowly climbed back to their feet. The reason I found the energy to get back up was so that I could get out of the rain and the storm, and into the cave. I glanced back at Bilbo, who seemed a bit withdrawn after what Thorin had said. It's been harsh and uncalled for. Bilbo had been trying his best. If anything, I was causing more trouble than him. People had to keep saving me.

I whistled eddy to my side and I followed after the dwarves, entering the low hanging cave. I had to duck slightly so that I didn't hit my head – the dwarves didn't have this problem. I glanced down, noticing that the ground was sand – not rock. Odd for a cave in the mountains, but I wasn't complaining. It was better than sleeping on rock.

"Right then, let's get a fire started," Gloin proposed, rubbing his hands together.

"No," Thorin replied. "No fires. Not in this place. Get some sleep, we start at first light."

The dwarves did as he said, setting down their things. I moved to the entrance of the cave, throwing my sack down on the ground. I wanted to take off my wet clothes to dry them, but I didn't think the dwarves would like that. With a sigh I pulled my cloak off, throwing it to the side near my bag. I then pulled my blanket out, sinking to the ground and throwing it over me.

I dragged my pack under my head like a pillow and Edbert slipped under the blanket with me. I wrapped my arms around him, frowning as I felt him shivering against my chest. With a sigh I reached forward, placing a kiss on his forehead. I then curled my body around him, burying my head into the back of his neck. I heard Bofur settle himself down not far away from where I was laying, getting ready for his shift on watch.

I hadn't thought about it before now, but I'd dragged Edbert along with me. He'd never gotten a say in this. Eddy, by nature, was a gentle dog and he normally hated conflict or violence. He even ran away from the stable cats when they so much as hissed at him. And now I'd thrown him into a life where he was constantly almost dying. He probably didn't even understand what was going. I'd just dragged him along with me, not even considering what would happen to him. My selfish decisions that I'd made affected him as well.

And if he died because of me? What would I do then? It would be all my fault. I, someone who constantly said she loves animals, would have _killed_ her own dog because she was being selfish. Just because _she_ was afraid to be alone, she'd dragged her loyal companion into his death.

I tightened my grip on my dog, feeling his steady heart-beat against my arms. No, I wouldn't let him die. I'd protect him just like he protected me.

My thoughts had gotten me that stirred up that I suddenly found that I wasn't tired. Physically my body was exhausted, but my mind was not. It was still going a million miles an hour. I sighed out loud, realising that I was probably in for a sleepless night.

* * *

I spent the next few hours laying there and listening to the snoring and breathing of all the other dwarves, my body still curled around Eddy. I couldn't sleep because every time I closed my eyes I thought about Edbert and how guilty I'd be if anything happened to him.

Because I wasn't asleep, I noticed when Bilbo started scuffling around. At first I thought he was going out to relieve himself, but then he started packing his bag and weapons and strapping them on himself. Then he started walking over the dwarves, heading to the entrance. I slowly uncurled from around my dog, sliding up into a sitting position. Luckily I was near the entrance to the cave, so he was right near me when he started to step out of the cave.

"Where do you think you're going?" Bofur, who was on watch, whispered harshly.

"Mr. Bilbo?" I questioned quietly, my brows furrowed. "Are you okay?" Bilbo froze, looking between Bofur and I.

"I'm going back to Rivendell," he answered.

"But…" I protested weakly, not sure what else to say. Eddy, noticing the disturbance, lifted his sleepy head up, looking around.

"N-No! No!" Bofur gasped, jumping up to his feet and running over to Bilbo. "Ya can't turn back now. Ya are part of the company. Ya one of us."

"I'm not though, am I," Bilbo argued, staring at Bofur and I.

"Please Bilbo," I begged, still trying to keep my voice down. "You are as much a part of this company as am I! Remember, we started this trip together!"

"You, Miss Scott, at least had something you could offer," Bilbo protested. "Thorin said I should never have come and he was right. I'm not a Took, I'm a Baggins. I don't know what I was thinking. I should never have run out my door."

"You're homesick! I understand," Bofur tried to reason with him.

"No! You don't! You don't understand, none of you do! You're dwarves," Bilbo snapped. "You're used to this life - to living to the road, to never settling in one place, not belonging anywhere. And you, Miss Scott, surely you have family and parents at home that are worried about you and want you to go back." I lifted my hand up to cover my mouth in revulsion at the words Bilbo was saying. Even Bofur just started solemnly at Bilbo as silence echoed over the area. He suddenly seemed to realize what he's just said. "O-Oh… I'm sorry, I didn't…"

"No, you're right," Bofur agreed, looking back at the rest of the company. "We don't belong anywhere."

"No, he is not right. On both accounts," I mumbled, clenching my fists. "You dwarves belong in Erebor, and that's why we are trying to get your home back. And no, Mr. Bilbo, I have no _parents _waiting for me. I never have."

Both Bilbo and Bofur sent me confused looks at that comment. "I-I…" Bilbo stuttered.

"I wish you all the luck in the world," Bofur said, relenting. "I really do." He reached forward, patting Bilbo on the shoulder with a grim smile. I kept my mouth shut as Bilbo turned around, ready to walk out of the cave. "What's that?" Bofur asked and I look down at Bilbo's waist in time to see blue shining from his sword holder.

Bilbo reached down, half drawing his sword out of its holder. The blade was glowing bright blue, causing me to gasp as I remembered what Gandalf had said. "Oh no!"

Silence echoed around the area as heard something moving under us. "Wake up! Wake up!" Thorin yelled, causing all the dwarves to snap awake. Nobody got the chance to do anything before the floor under us opened up, sending us all falling down.

"Eddy!" I yelled, wrapping my arms around my dog as we went dropping a short way before hitting an odd slide. I'd been closer to the cave entrance, so I ended up at the back of the slide near Bilbo and Bofur. All the other dwarves were in front of us, crying out in shock as we started sliding and rolling.

The rough sides of the slide were made out of rock so I could feel my body bouncing and smacking into it, leaving bruises. I was going to be sore tomorrow. Eddy was sheltered in my arms, so he was safe from the rough blows that could have broken his fragile bones.

I don't know how long we slid with everything spinning around us before we were shot out of the slide, dropping another short distance. We all landed in some sort of round cup shape cage, made out of sticks and ropes. Because it was so small we all started landing in a big pile, Bilbo, Eddy and I landing on top.

I felt bile rising in my throat as I looked up at the celling of some well-lit cavern that we were in, the air stale and grotesque.

"Look out! Look out!" the dwarves yelled and I half sat up in time to see a whole army of goblins running at us along a little path that led to our little wooden cup. I let out a shriek and all hell broke loose. The dwarves tried to scramble back up to their feet so that they could draw their weapons, but the goblins pounced on them before they could.

Their hands were grabbing at whatever part of us they could grab at, dragging us out of the pile one by one, and passing us along. I tightened my grip on Eddy, not letting go as I felt several leathery goblin hands latch onto parts of my body.

I yelped in protest, kicking out blindly and I felt my feet meet a flesh a few times, but I was still dragged away from the pile and shoved onto my feet. If I had my hands free I would have been throwing punches, but I daren't let go of my growling dog who was struggling in my grip, trying to get at the goblins. I feared that as soon as I let him go, I'd lose him. I needed to protect him.

I heard the yelled protests and shouts from the other members of our company as we were all pushed into the wave of goblins, hands prodding, poking and pinching us everywhere. We were forced to either walk or be dragged along by the vile creatures. The goblins kept screeching at me and shoving their disgusting faces into my own as we made our way along the pathway and over a bridge.

"Get off, you disgusting, vile creatures!" I yelled when one of their hands touched my buttocks. I struggled, thrashed and even landed a wobbly kick in one of their crotches, still cling onto my snarling dog. In responses, I got a nasty hit over the back of my head, causing me to fall to my knees as my vision went black momentarily. One or two of the rushing goblins tripped over me as I hunched over Eddy, but I was quickly pulled back onto my feet and forced to move again.

We were forced to walk a long way, down paths and over bridges. I gagged when I noticed that on some of the bridges there were humans skulls used as decorations. It's no wonder the whole place stunk. Occasionally I would hear the sounds of protest from some of the dwarves I recognised, giving me hope that the others were still with us amongst the swarm of goblins.

We were soon led into an open cavern with bridges and walkways all over the place, like a giant spider web. I paled when I saw goblins everywhere around the area, all of them staring and screeching at us from where ever they stood.

Our trip came to a stop when we were herded onto a small platform with a giant chair at the end of it. Sitting on that hair was a huge, ugly goblin. He was several times large than the small goblins that were a little smaller than my size. He had a massive growth coming off of his chin and his pasty yellow skin was covered in warts and scabs. The massive goblin was wearing a crown on his head, so he must have been their leader.

We were all pushed to the front and the large weapons that some of the dwarves had been carrying were taken away and thrown onto a pile. I felt someone grab my elbow and I almost lashed out at them until I noticed the voice. "Woah there, Lass! You're okay. It's just me," Bofur reassured me, pulling me into a cluster of dwarves that had huddled together for safety in numbers.

"Mr. Bofur!" I gasped in relief, glad to see a faces that I knew. I didn't get to say anything else before there was movement in front of us.

I looked up in time to see the goblin leader stand up out of his chair to address us. "Who would be so bold as to come armed into my kingdom!" he demanded. "Spies? Thieves? Assassins?"

"Dwarves, and one human woman, your malevolence," one of the vile creatures replied.

"Dwarves? And _one_ human woman?" the leader growled in a rough voice.

"We found 'em on the front porch!" the same creature admitted.

"Well don't just stand there, search them! Every crack, every crevice!" he ordered and, before we could stop them, we were suddenly swarmed by goblins again, reaching and grabbing at our bodies. Several goblins also groped me all over my body in a search for weapons. I gasped, struggling away from their hands, but they kept searching. Eddy even managed to give one of them a nasty bite when his hand came too close to my breasts and Eddy's face.

One of them quickly found the blade that I kept in the band of my breeches and it shoved its hand down my skirt to grab it. I shrieked, thrusting my elbow into its face as it yanked the weapon out of my breeches. The goblin stumbled back with a cry, throwing my weapon on the growing pile. Once they were sure we had no more weapons they stepped slightly back from us. We quickly reformed into our little group and I found myself wedged between Bofur and Dori.

"What are you doing in these parts?" the leader questioned. "Speak!" No one spoke up – everyone was too busy sending the ugly bastard hateful glares. "Very well, if they will not talk, we'll make them squawk!" A cheer went up around the area from all the goblins. "Bring up the mangler! Bring up the bone breaker! Start with the human woman!"

The grotesque leader pointed his finger straight at me I stiffened, my aching arms tightening around Edbert. Bofur's hand quickly found its way to my arm, squeezing it in a reassuring way.

* * *

**Not much will change in the next few chapters, so once I've checked them all over, I'll re-upload them quickly. Thanks for putting up with my re-write so far, guys! ^^**

**Thank you, Isildur's Heiress, Gladoo89, spycat and PrincessMnMz for your reviews! **


	12. Chapter 12

**"We read to know we are not alone." –C.S. Lewis**

* * *

I swallowed at the thought of being put on the torture machine. I wouldn't say a word under the threat of torture, my ego wouldn't allow it. Bofur's hand on my elbow was somewhat reassuring, but my chest was still tightening uncomfortably at the thought of torture.

"Wait!" Thorin barked, pushing his way to the front of our group. I glanced nervously at him.

"Well, well, well," the leader scoffed. "Look who it is! Thorin, son of Thrain, son of Thror, King Under the Mountain." The goblin mock bowed to Thorin in a teasing manner, causing several of the other goblins to laugh. "Oh, but I'm forgetting, you don't have a mountain! And you're not a king, which makes you… Nobody really. I know someone who would pay a pretty price for your head. Just a head, nothing attached. Perhaps you know of whom I speak. An old enemy of yours. A pale orc astride a white warg."

"Azog the Defiler was destroyed," Thorin argued. "He was slain in battle long ago."

"So you think his defiling days are done, do you?" the leader questioned, laughing. He then leant over to a smaller goblin that was in a basket attached to a pulley system. "Send word to the Pale Orc, tell him I have found his prize." With a cackle the pulley system was set off and the little goblin in the basket went sliding off into the distance.

It didn't long for the torture devices to get to us, they were cheering and chanting as the goblins carried the large devices across the bridge. I paled even more and started shaking when I saw the fearsome devices. I knew that I was first up to try them out, and I was not looking forward to it.

'_I won't say a word! I won't!_' I chanted mentally. '_Just because I am woman does not mean I am weak. They won't get anything out of me. I…I'll bite off my own tongue first!_'

"It's okay, Lass," Bofur said, pulling me behind him and closer into the huddle of dwarves. "We won't let 'em touch you."

I clenched my jaw, squaring my shoulders as I proclaimed, "Even if they do, I won't say a word. Not a peep. I promise." My voice shook slightly but I tilted my chin up defiantly as I glared at the goblin king. The dwarves closest to me glanced in my direction at my words, looking warn.

Surely torture couldn't compare to what I'd been through. All the riding accidents - the broken bones, fractures, dislocations, concussions, lacerations, bruises and the internal bleeding. All the mornings when I was sore and my body was so beat up that my Papp had to physically lift me out of bed and put me on my feet because I couldn't move. The times that I got thrown off the horse time after time, and got straight back on. The times I was kicked, bitten, trodden, pushed and squished by horses. Surely this couldn't be that much worse.

Edbert whined lowly when the goblin king started to dance around and sing.

_Bones will be shattered_

_Necks will be wrung_

_You'll be beaten and battered_

_From racks you'll be hung _

_You'll never be found_

_Down in the deep of Goblin Town_

One of the goblins suddenly screamed, throwing down Thorin's sword that it had picked up to look at. The sword thumped to the ground, half hanging out of its sheath. As soon as all the goblins saw it, they stop singing and cheering and instead they started screaming and scrambling away from it. Even the leader stumbled back, tripping into his chair in his hurry to get away from the sword.

"I know that sword!" the leader yelled in fear, pointing at it. "It is the Goblin Cleaver!" All of a sudden the goblins swarmed us again, attacking in any ways they could. They were pummelling the dwarves with fists, or hitting them with multi-stranded whips. I found myself shoved onto my knees, trying to cover Ed with my body again as I felt a goblin jumping in my back.

"The blade that's sliced a thousand necks! Slash them! Beat them!" the leader continued to yell and the goblin on my back latched onto my hair, pulling my head roughly back. I shrieked loudly and I was forced to finally let go on my struggling dog. As soon as he was free, he wiggled out from under me, attacking the goblin that had hold of my hair. I didn't manage to see what happened, but I felt the goblin getting dragged off me, screaming as Eddy's teeth bit into its flesh. "Kill them! Kill them all! Cut off his head!"

Suddenly a large soundwave erupted over the area, knocking everyone and everything over. Several of the goblins were blown off the side of the platform, but the soundwave blocked out any sounds so there was no screaming. Because I was already on my hand on knees, the wave didn't knock me over. I saw a flash of brown fur out of the corner of my eye and I latched onto it, yanking Edbert back to my side as I pressed both of us against the ground.

As the wave settled I looked up to see none other than Gandalf, who was walking towards us from the front of the platform. Everyone else groaned as they tried to push themselves back up, and Gandalf ordered, "Take up arms! Fight! Fight!"

With battle cried the dwarves all climbed back up to their feet, shoving and pushing the goblins aside so that they could pick up their weapons again. I quickly stumbled back up to my own feet, kicking a goblin in the head as it tried to sand back up. Gandalf pulled out his own sword, slicing and cutting his way through a few goblins. "He wields the Foe Hammer! The beater! Bright as daylight!" the leader cried out in fear.

"Eddy! Close!" I ordered as my dog snarled and barked at any goblins that dared to come near us. Now that I wasn't restraining my dog, they all seemed to be rather cautious of him and his sharp teeth.

I felt another goblin jump on my back again, this time wrapping its arms around my neck tightly. I choked, reaching behind my head with my hand as I dug my fingers and nails into its flesh. I then bent over, yanking it off my back and over my head so that it hit the ground.

"Lass!" Trusty Bofur appeared next to me, slamming his hammer down on the skull of the goblin. "Here! Use it!" He shoved my dagger into my hands, taking a swing at another goblin as it came close to us. The blow caught it across its midsection and the goblin stumbled back over the side of the platform.

"But… I don't know how!" I yelled back, clutching my dagger in shaking hands.

"You're about to learn how!" he snapped, trying to keep an eye on me whilst taking out some more attacking goblins. Eddy was still hovering around my legs, biting the legs of any goblins that came close to me.

I saw a goblin sneaking up behind Bifur, who had his spear impaled in another goblin. I couldn't wait any longer. I had to join the fray or watch my friends get hurt. With a wild cry I yanked my dagger out, jumping forward and ramming my hip and shoulder into the goblin that was trying to get Bifur.

The force of my body connecting with its own was enough to knock it to the side, sending it tripping over the side and into the darkness below. Bifur looked at me in surprise, yanking his spear out of the goblin. Bifur grunted something in another language as another of the goblins charged at me and I swept my arm out in an arc, the blade cutting through nothing but air. It was enough to cause the goblin to stumble back and Bofur suddenly showed up to take care of it.

"That's a girl, Lass! You're doing well! It's okay, we'll get out of this!" Bofur encouraged me, treating me as if I was frightened dog – although, in a way, I was.

"Follow me! Quick!" Gandalf yelled over the noise of the fight and he started to run over the bridge. All the dwarves quickly did as he said, running towards the old wizard and onto the bridge.

"Eddy!" I called and he quickly showed up in front of me as I slipped my dagger cover into the pocket of my breeches. I breathed a sigh of relief and ordered, "Close!"

"Come on, Lass! Hurry!" Bofur yelled, placing his hand on my back and pushing me towards the bridge. "I'll be right behind you!"

I didn't argue. I broke out in a sprint for the bridge, my dagger still held in one my hands.

Run we did. We ran as if the devil's hounds themselves were at our heels. Thorin quickly took charge at the front of line and I somehow ended up near the back with Eddy right behind me. I held my dagger in my right hand, and my left was holding my skirt up, although that didn't stop me from stumbling once or twice. Whoever was building the structures for the goblins needed to consider a different career path. The wooden planks of the bridge cracked, groaned and slipped as we ran over them.

I didn't turn my head back when I heard the screeching of the angry goblins behind us. They were probably organising an attack on us as they ran after us. I was just glad they hadn't started firing arrows. Yet.

Suddenly the goblins started jumping in front of us on the path that we were taking. The dwarves managed to take care of them fairy well by attacking them and knocking them off the side of the walkways and bridges that we were crossing.

One goblin crawled up from under the walkway, reaching towards my legs with its repulsive hands. I kicked him swiftly in the forehead as I ran past and, with a cry of pain he left go, falling back into the darkness.

I didn't notice when, but our group was split up at some point as we ended up on different paths. I found myself in the group with Dwalin, Nori, Bofur, Bifur, Gloin and Fili. I ended up third at the back with only Eddy and Bofur behind me.

The goblins that were swarming in front of us, and behind us, seemed to be multiplying quicker than we could take care of them. By now Dwalin, who was at the front of our charge, had gotten sick of the large amount of goblins so he picked up a huge log with the help of a few other dwarves, and he was waving it back and forth in front of him as he charged. The goblins were swept off the walkway like yesterday trash, leaving only a few on the path.

A goblin cried out to my left and I looked up in time to see it jumping down from another path above us, heading straight for me. I let out a squeak, ducking down so that it went flying over my head. It crashed into another goblin that had been trying to grab me from the right, and they both went tumbling over the side.

The log the other dwarves were using was quickly dropped and they went back to taking the goblins out with their weapons. I looked up as another path appeared above us, and I saw Gandalf and the other dwarves running on it. The paths quickly merged, much to my relief, and we all found ourselves running and fighting as a large group again. I almost refused to keep running as we crossed another large bridge that was suspended along a large drop. The planks were all broken and there were huge gaps between the planking. A major OH&S issue.

"Don't look down, Scott. Don't look down!" I snapped to myself as I ran across it and onto the next pathway.

When we got off the bridge and onto the next pathway, we were suddenly swarmed with the disgusting creatures again. They were coming for all directions. Above, below, in front, behind, left, right. Whatever way you looked, there would be one coming for you. Bofur, true to his word, had stayed behind me the whole time, making sure that I didn't get myself killed. I was glad to have him because he took care of most of them, I only had to kick and push the occasional one.

I tried to ignore the carnage around me as best as I could, but I still noticed the flying goblin heads and the sounds of blades impaling them or the sounds of their bones being crushed. One of them jumped down next to me, grabbing onto my arm. I shrieked loudly and without thinking I jabbed my dagger towards it. The blade sunk into the flesh on the goblin's chest, and it let out a cry out pain as I stared in horror at the blood that was rushing out onto my dagger and my hand.

The goblin made a gurgling sound as its legs gave out, causing it to fall off my dagger and topple off the side of the platform. That didn't matter to me - I was still staring at my bloody dagger and hand. I'd killed it with my own hands. It wasn't the same as knocking one off the side. Its blood was on me. Literally _on_ me.

"Lass!" Bofur yelled, pushing me forward again. "Keep running!"

My body listened to him before my mind did. I started running again, but my mind was still reeling over the fact I'd just stuck my blade into something. The sound of it… The feel of the blade as it sunk in… The sound the goblin had made… It was disgusting.

I only snapped out of my trance when my foot got caught on some planking, causing me to stumble and almost trip. I quickly realized that if I wanted to survive this ordeal, then I needed to have full concentration what was going on around me. I glanced down to my side, glad to see Edbert still running loyally by my side. It wasn't only me I needed to worry about. It was him too. I had a duty to protect him.

Something whizzed past the side of my face I glanced ahead to see some goblins with bows and arrows. I had to duck as another whizzed past me. I suddenly noticed that our group had gotten a lot smaller again, which meant that our groups had split up again.

Kili, who was in front of us, was having the most trouble with the arrows – he was trying to use his sword to deflect them. Kili seemed to rethink it after a second and he grabbed a large wooden ladder as we ran past it. He then lowered it like a lance and the other dwarves rushed forward to grab part of it as well so that he didn't drop it. They all charge ahead, using the ladder to knock all the goblins over.

While they were all busy doing that, I was stuck at the back of the group with Edbert. I spun around as I goblin dropped down behind us and Edbert bit down on its leg to hold it still. I jabbed forward with my dagger again, sinking the blade into its stomach before pulling it out just as quickly.

"Eddy!" I commanded and he let go and we both ran after the dwarves who were clearing the path. I looked ahead and saw another pathway near ours where the rest of our group was. "There they are!" I yelled over the sounds of the battle.

The others directed the ladder and dropped it between the two paths as Gandalf barked, "Quickly!" The dwarves started running across the ladder and I had to stop to scoop Eddy up in my arms because he wouldn't have made it over. While my hands were full, two goblins rushed me. Little Ori, who noticed my dilemma, rushed in front of me, swinging a large hammer at both of them, knocking them off the path. I noticed that Ori was wielding one of the Dwalin's hammers, but I didn't comment.

The two of us quickly scrambled over to re-join the other group, and as soon as I was on solid ground, I dropped Eddy back to the ground. He seemed to be doing fine by himself. Dwalin waited by the ladder while Ori crossed last, and as soon as he was back on solid ground, Dwalin kicked the ladder off so that the goblins couldn't follow us.

We kept running further and further, and I was starting to think that there was no end to the paths. Although, ironically, there was. We ended up on a pathway that ended abruptly in a dead-end because it was a broken and there was nowhere else to go.

Thorin, for reasons beyond my understanding, cut the rope that was holding our platform in place and we were suddenly flying through the air, held up by only a few cables from the roof of the carven. I screamed, wobbling and almost falling off the edge. Edbert wasn't much better. He stumbled too and ended up falling against my legs.

"Jump!" Someone yelled and I grabbed Eddy's scruff and jumped as we got close to other platform. A few of the dwarves jumped with me and we landed safely on the wooden structure. I landed on my hands and knees and I looked around to see the faces of Bifur, Balin, Ori and Nori. I glanced back to see the others swing back towards the goblins and several of the vile creatures jumped on, forcing the dwarves and Gandalf to fight.

As they swung back towards us, I stood up and moved out of the road so that they could all jump onto our pathway. As soon as everyone was off the swinging platform, we were off at a sprint again. The goblins just didn't stop coming. As we ran they kept jumping at us. It didn't matter how many we killed or injured, two more seemed to replace them.

When we reached a large rock overhanging on one of the paths, Gandalf thrust his staff at in, and in a flash of blue light a large boulder fell off and started rolling down the path we were going to take. We charged behind it as it rolled over and knocked off the goblins in front of us. The rock eventually rolled off the side and we took a sharp left turn onto another pathway, still fighting our way through hordes of goblins.

By now, my body was moving without much help from my brain. If I saw something moving out of the corner of my eye that didn't look like a dwarf, I would either duck away from it, or kick at it.

Yet another goblin jumped down right in front of me, and Edbert threw himself into its legs, causing it to start falling. I quickly jumped forward, driving my dagger up through the bottom of its jaw and up into its head. My body convulsed as my gag reflex kicked in, but I yanked the blade out and jumped over the body so that I could keep running.

We finally manage to get ahead of the goblins and we ran a short way without being attacked when suddenly something jumped up through the pathway in front of us. We all came to a stumbling halt as the goblin leader pulled himself up in front of us. I quickly looked behind to see the goblins almost catching up. We were stuck between a rock and a hard place.

The dwarves quickly formed a little huddle, some facing the goblin king while others faced the goblins that were advancing from the behind. I ended up near the front, standing before the goblin leader.

"You thought you could escape me!" he yelled, swinging a large club straight a Gandalf. The blow connected, sending or wizard stumbling back. Ori and I caught Gandalf, grabbing onto him so that he stayed up straight. "What are you going to do now wizard!"


	13. Chapter 13

**"It gives me strength to have somebody to fight for; I can never fight for myself, but, for others, I can kill." ― Emilie Autumn**

* * *

Gandalf jabbed his staff straight into the large goblin's eye, causing him to reel back with a yell of pain. Gandalf then swung his blade straight across the beast's stomach, slicing it open.

With another cry of pain, the leader fell to his knees, clutching at his stomach. "That'll do it," the large goblin mumbled, nodding his head. Gandalf then swung his sword forward again, slicing the creature's neck in with sooth movement. The leader slumped over on the pathway in front of us, forcing us to stumble back a few steps.

The force of the big body's fall rocked the platform we were standing on, and it started to crack and shift under us. I quickly dropped to my knees, wrapping one of my arms around Edbert as the platform gave out from under us. I squeezed my eyes close as we were rocked and thrown around, I didn't dare open my eyes because I really didn't want to see my own death. I shrieked loudly and the sound blended in with the yells of the dwarves.

One particularly rough bump caused me to fall onto my side and I wrapped both arms and Edbert, pulling him against my stomach whilst being careful not to stab him with my knife. I wasn't sure how long we were falling and bumping around me, but suddenly it all came to a sliding stop. I held my breath for a few seconds, wondering if I was finally dead.

I heard groans and movement around me and I opened up my eyes to see that we'd come to a stop at the bottom of the carven. All the dwarves were stuck in between the planking of what once was a walkway. I was stuck next to Bofur, my arms still wrapped tightly around Eddy.

"We're… We're alive!" I gasped in excitement, a bright smile lighting up my face.

"Well, that coulda been worse," Bofur pointed out in a humorous mood. Apparently irony agreed, because as soon as the words left his mouth the body of the goblin leader landed on top of us, cracking the wood were nestled in, and squashing us under its weight. This earned a new round of groans from the dwarves and me.

"You've got ta be joking!" Dwalin snarled, trying to push them wood off of himself.

Edbert quickly wriggled out of my arms, slipping out of the pile of wood easily. With the new room to move, I quickly wiggled myself out too, climbing onto the pile of wood. Just as I went to help the others get out, I heard a roar from above us and I looked up. It was a whole wave of goblins rushing down the rock way towards us.

"Gandalf!" Kili yelled as he noticed it too. I quickly jumped into action, grabbing onto Bofur and helping him out of the pile first.

"There's too many! We can't fight them!" Dwalin snapped as he helped Nori out of the rubble.

"Only one thing will save us! Daylight!" Gandalf ordered. "Come on!"

The dwarves jumped into action, helping everyone out of the rubble as we got ready to run for it again. It didn't take long for us to find a pathway that led to the outside. We all sprinted as fast as our sore and tired bodies could.

I almost broke down and sobbed in relief when we emerged from the cave onto the side of a grassy mountain, trees dotted around the area. Unfortunately I didn't get the chance because Gandalf ordered, "Keep running!"

It was easier to run downhill at least, and we could all see clearly where we were going now. There was no thin pathways to fall off of, only tress to dodge and rocks to jump over. There were no more words exchanged amongst us as the ground started to level out a bit and trees surrounded us - we all just kept running and running.

We only slowed down when Gandalf started counting all the dwarves and everyone slowly stumbled to a stop, panting and huffing.

"Where's Bilbo?" Gandalf asked suddenly, looking around. I stiffened, realizing that I hadn't seen him the whole time. I was so busy worrying about myself that I hadn't noticed the missing hobbit. "Where is out hobbit? Where is our hobbit!" Everyone started looking around, but there were no signs of him.

"Curse the half-wit!" Dwalin snarled. "Now he's lost? I thought he was with Dori!"

"Don't blame me!" Dori snapped.

"Well, where did you last see him?" Gandalf questioned.

"I think I saw him slip away when they first collared us," Nori suggested.

"Well, what happened exactly?" Gandalf demanded the details. "Tell me!"

"I'll tell you what happened," Thorin snarled. "Master Baggins saw his chance and he took it! He's thought of nothing but his soft bed and warm hearth since he stepped out of his door. We will not be seeing our hobbit again. He is long gone."

I clenched my fists by my side, my dagger still clutched in my right hand. I wasn't sure what made me speak out - maybe it was the near death experience or maybe it was just mood swings. "No!" I exclaimed, drawing the attention of all the dwarves. "You've been unfair on Mr. Bilbo ever since we've left! He's been trying his hardest! For the sake of your quest he's learnt to ride a pony, learnt how to wield a sword and learnt what it means to fight. He's been trying his hardest, but it was never good enough for you! Mr. Bilbo has been the one struggling the most out of all of us on this quest, but he's stuck with us this far. I don't believe he'd leave us – not while we were in danger. You underestimate him and dishonour him, Thorin Oakenshield."

I took a deep shuddering breathe as I glared down Thorin, my hands shaking by my sides. Most of the dwarves were so bewildered by my sudden snap that they couldn't speak. They were used to me being a good, placid little girl. I'd played along with the proper manners that my Grandparents had drilled into me, and look where it had gotten us. I'd had enough. "He's probably back in the goblin cave right now and I for one am not a coward and I'm not about to leave any of my friends behind." Without thinking it through clearly, I spun on my heels, striding angrily back to the way I'd came. "Go on with your quest! I'm going to go back to find Bilbo. I don't care if I die. I'd rather die for my friends than die a coward."

The dwarves yelled in protest behind me, saying all sorts of things. "Stop! You can't go back into the goblin cave!"

"I can and I will! Just watch me!" I screamed back over my shoulder, without stopping. Edbert followed loyally by my side, glancing between the dwarves and I in confusion.

"No need," a voice said, causing Edbert and I to freeze. I glanced to my side in time to see Bilbo step out from behind a tree right next to me. Sighs of relief swept over the group of gathered dwarves.

"Bilbo Baggins," Gandalf laughed. "I've never been so glad to see anyone in my life!"

Bilbo turned towards me and said, "I heard what you said Miss Scott… Thank you, I-"

He didn't get to finish his sentence before I'd stridden forward and scooped him up in a bone-crushing hug. He stiffened in my arms, clearly uncomfortable by my show of emotions. I squeezed my eyes closed, holding my tears back as I gasped, "Thank goodness you're okay Mr. Bilbo!"

Bilbo cleared his throat awkwardly after a few seconds and I let him go, stepping back as I reached up to wipe my eyes with the back of hand. Bilbo looked at the ground and mumbled, "I'm sorry for worrying you, Miss Scott."

"No, it's okay. I'm just glad that you're okay," I said, shaking my head.

"Thank you." He nodded his head before walking towards the group, patting Balin on the shoulder as he walked past. I slipped my knife back into its cover, making a mental note to clean it later. I looked up at the sky, making a mental note that it was already starting to get dark as the sun set. Soon we would be in darkness.

"Bilbo!" Kili exclaimed in relief. "We'd given you up."

"How on earth did you get past the goblins?" Fili asked.

"How indeed," Dwalin muttered.

Bilbo looked around and let out a nervous laugh as he slipped his hands in his pockets. Gandalf quickly interrupted, "Well, what does it matter. He's back."

"It matters," Thorin argued. "I want to know. Why did you come back?"

Bilbo paused for a few seconds and he look back at me. I nodded my head in encouragement and he looked back at Thorin. "Look, I know you doubt me. And I know you always have. And you're right, I often think of Bag End." He shrugged his shoulders. "I miss my books. And my armchair. And my garden. See, that's where I belong. That's home. And that's why I came back. Because… You don't have one. A home. It was taken from you. But, I will help you take it back if I can."

Silence echoed around the dwarves as they all seemed to consider what Bilbo had just said. The silence was cut short when Edbert started growling viciously from his place next to me. I jumped as the sudden sound burst his chest but then I tensed, knowing that something was probably wrong. "Eddy?"

Howls suddenly echoed in the trees, causing everyone else to tense. Wargs.

Thorin muttered, "Out of the frying pan…"

"And into the fire," Gandalf finished. "Run… Run!"

I swore mentally more than once. I was so tired already, I just wanted to sit down and sleep. But, we had to start running again. I didn't bother to pull out my knife – it would be useless against wargs and riders. I just grabbed my skirt in both hands and legged it, making sure that Edbert was following.

We ran down the hillside, dodging the trees and rocks like scurrying rabbits as the howls and growls of the wargs echoed behind us. By now the sun had almost fully set and it was starting to get hard to see where to place your feet. Eddy was having no problem because he could see better in the dark than I could.

Before long the front pack of riderless wargs, the fastest runners, were on us. I didn't bother to draw my knife because the dwarves seemed fully capable of taking care of the wargs without my help, and my tiny dagger wouldn't have done much.

I heard the yelps and cries of the wolf like creatures around me, and I glanced to the side to see Ori's shape in the darkness as he swung his hammer over his shoulder and onto the warg's head. In one blow it was done and I yelled, "Good job, Ori!" The little dwarf looked at me in surprise, too busy looking at the warg and me to worry about running.

I dashed over to his side, latching onto to his arm as I dragged the young dwarf with me. "Come on! Hurry!" I ordered in the same tone I usually used for Edbert. I dragged him for a few meters, letting Edbert lead the way so that I knew where to tread, until Ori finally picked up his pace and then I let go, running by his side instead.

I saw all the other dwarves stumbled to a stop in front of us and I slowed down as I noticed we'd hit a dead end. We were on the side of a cliff, with the wargs closing in and nowhere else to go.

"Up into the trees!" Gandalf ordered us. "All of you! Come on! Climb! Climb!"

"Bloody hell!" I swore loudly and flinched when I remember that if my Grandmother had heard that, she would have washed my mouth out with mustard several times over. I could climb the tree, but Eddy couldn't, and there was no way I was leaving him on the ground with the wargs. Once we were both on the first row of branches, I could lift him up to the next one, but we needed to get up into the tree to start with.

The dwarves wasted no time in getting up into the trees and Eddy whined nervously by my leg. I took a deep breath, staring at the tree closest to the edge, and I hitch up my skirt as I ran straight at it. "Eddy! Wait!" I commanded as ran and jumped at up at the tree. I caught the lowest branch in my hands and I swung myself up so that my legs were also wrapped around the branch. I didn't care that my skirt was now up around my waist, showing my legs and breeches clearly.

The growls were getting closer, but Eddy waited patiently right where I'd told him to stay. I let go of the grip with my hands, hanging upside down from the branch. "Eddy! Come! Up, Ed! Up!" I yelled at my dog and he ran straight at me, and without question he jumped. His body connect with my chest and I awkwardly wrapped my arms around him, his butt in my face.

With a grunt I shoved him towards the tree branch, commanding, "Up! Up on the branch, Eddy!" My dog scrambled for the branch and he managed to pull himself up onto it. I was glad that he had good balance, a natural Australian Kelpie trait.

I quickly swung myself up on the branch, heaving myself up so that I was straddling the branch like it was a horse. "They're coming!" Thorin roared and I quickly pushed myself up so that I was standing on the branch. I picked up my dog, shoving him up onto the next branch above us. I then quickly followed him, heaving myself up onto the next branch.

I did that a few times until we were up half way up the tree and then I sat there, straddling the tree branch with Eddy standing nervously next me. I looked up to see that Gandalf was right up the top of the tree I was also in, and the rest of the dwarves were dotted around in the trees close to us.

I looked down as a large number of riderless wargs charged in around our trees, snarling and growling viciously. Edbert snarled back at them, bearing his teeth down in their direction. "Hush!" I hissed, not really wanting him to stir them up even more when we were in such a precarious position.

The wargs looked up into the trees anyway, prowling around the base as they tried to figure out a way to get up at us. I heard some of the dwarfs call out things, but I couldn't make out the words over the sounds of the enraged wargs.

I looked back through the branches to see a large looking orc, riding a white warg, jump up onto a rock near the trees we were in. I knew straight away that it was Azog, no doubt about it. He looked exactly how he'd been described. And he looked pissed. More riders upon wargs gathered behind him, all staring up at us.

Azog started to speak in a rough sounding language and I couldn't understand a word of it other than the names "Thorin" and "Thrain". Whatever he was saying must not have been good. He continued to speak before raising his club like weapon and yelling something. All the wargs suddenly started attacking, so it must have been an order to attack.

The wargs ran straight at the trees and started jumping up in the air and bouncing off the tree trunks to try and get at us. I squealed when one almost bit down on my skirt and in response Eddy started barking and snarling loudly down at them.

"Nope, nope, nope!" I gasped, scrambling up into a standing position. I scooped Eddy up again and shoved him further up into the tree. I quickly scrambled after him and we climbed up a few more branches as the wargs continued to try and get us. One of them caught his front paws on the first branch to the tree ad he tried to pull himself up, but the branch snapped under his weight, sending him back to the ground.

I screamed as the tree shook, squatting down so that I could wrap one arm around the tree and the other around Eddy. I looked down only to see the open mouths of wargs snapping below me as they continued to jump up in an attempt to drag us out. None of the other dwarves were fairing any better, they were all crying out in shock every time a warg almost managed to grab hold of them.

One warg jumped up way too close to me for comfort and I kicked my leg down, nailing it in the nose as I yelled, "Bad boy! Get down!" I wasn't sure if they reacted like normal dogs, but it was worth a try. The warg yelped, dropping back down the ground and shaking its head. It then looked back up at me, fury burning in its eyes. It had worked – worked to make it even angrier.

I heard a large snap and I looked over in time to see one of the trees start to fall over. The wargs had knocked it straight out of the ground and now it was falling towards another tree that more of the dwarves were in. The whole thing quickly started a domino effect and the trees started to fall in a row as the dwarves and Bilbo jumped from one tree to another as fast as they could.

Gandalf and my tree was last in line, so as the tree crashed into ours, we had all the dwarves and the hobbit jumping onto our tree. I shrieked as the two trees impacted, but our tree held steady, not falling over like the rest of them. Ori jumped onto the same branch as me and he wobbled for a second before I let go of Eddy, reaching out to steady the young dwarf. He quickly regained his balance and let go, gripping back onto my dog.

I looked up to see Kili and Fili not far away from me, and I couldn't help but calling out, "Ponies not enough, hey Kili? This time it was a tree! I'm honestly not sure you can best that." The brothers both glanced my way and Kili sent me a anxious smile.

All the wargs were now gathered around the bottom of the one tree, trying to climb up and get us. They were growling and snarling as they paced around and jumped at the tree.

Gandalf, thinking on his feet, grabbed a pinecone and set it alight with the help of his magical staff. He then lobbed the flaming pinecone down at the wargs and they all jumped away from it with a growl as it landed on the ground near them.

The ground started to catch alight under us, forcing the wargs to retreat even further back and Gandalf continued to light up more pine cones. "Fili!" he yelled, throwing one down to the dwarf. Fili caught it, juggling the burning missile in his hands for a few seconds before throwing it at the wargs. The other dwarves caught on quickly as they were passed a few more flaming pinecones and they started grabbing more off the tree and setting them alight as well.

Gandalf even threw one down to both Ori and I, and I was forced to let go of the tree so that I could catch it in one hand. I threw it straight back up like a game of hot-potato, and when I caught it again I launched it at a warg. The dwarves were throwing theirs as well, but I still managed to follow the flight path of the one I threw. I let out a cheer as it hit a warg on the back, causing it to yelp and skitter around like a frighten puppy.

The dwarves were having as much luck as me and we forced the wargs back away from our tree. The only downside was the fact the ground around the base of our tree and the other trees were lighting up with flames. I coughed, covering my mouth as the smoke stung my eyes. Edbert whined, burying his head into my side at the sight of the flames. He wasn't happy about the flames either.

Azog let out an angry roar at his foiled plan and the dwarves yelled and cheered in response to it. I even let out a cheer myself, only to inhale too much smoke and end up coughing again. Our cheering was cut short when the tree cracked and started falling to the side. I gritted my teeth, latching back onto the tree trunk with one of my hands as the tree started to fall off the edge of the cliff.


	14. Chapter 14

**"If we revert to history, we shall find that the women who have distinguished themselves have**

**neither been the most beautiful nor the most gentle of their sex." ― Mary Wollstonecraft**

* * *

I thought the tree was going to fall off the cliff, but it stopped on a horizontal lean, hanging over the open drop. Ori and I were both jolted roughly and I wrapped my legs around the branch pushing Eddy down against the limb so that he didn't fall off as it fell over. Then the tree stopped moving I let Eddy go, letting him scramble back into a standing position. I looked over to Ori who was clinging onto the branch with his arms, but he started to slip.

"Ori!" I yelled as he let go, falling off. I tried to reach out to him with one hand, but I missed and he fell down, latching onto Dori who was just below us on another branch, only holding on by his arms as well. The little dwarf grabbed onto Dori's foot, stopping himself form falling. His brother grunted, trying to hold onto the branch now that he had the weight of his little brother holding onto him as well.

The tree cracked, falling a bit lower, but the roots that were still in the ground held tight enough not to let the tree plummet into the darkness. I grunted at the rough jerk and I looked down in time to see Dori starting to slip as well.

"Hang on, Dori!" I yelled, carefully lowering myself down onto the branch that he was holding onto. The branch was too thin for me to stand on properly so I lowered myself into a position to straddle the branch, my skirt still up and around my waist. I scooted forward, reaching for Dori's hand, but he slipped with a cry.

I reached after him and ended up tipping off the branch. I caught both of his wrists with my hands, tightening my legs around the trees as I spun upside down. I was glad that horse riding built up my upper thigh muscles, because I was forced to tighten my legs around the branch as I slipped upside down, only my legs stopping me from falling. I cried out in pain as the full weight of the two dwarves I was holding jerked down on my arms. It felt like my arms were going to be pulled straight out of their sockets, but in response I only tightened my grip on my dwarf's wrists.

"Miss Scott!" the brothers called out as I held my breath so I didn't spew forth all the swear words I knew. To make matter even worse, my skirt fell straight down over my midsection, leaving my legs and hips completely uncovered. In this time and age that was highly inappropriate, breeches or no.

"Don't you _dare_ let go! I'm not going to let you fall!" I snarled, refusing to let the two dwarves fall to their death. Edbert whined and called nervously from his place on the branch above his. "Eddy, stay! Don't even think about moving!"

I whimpered in pain as all the bones and muscles in my body groaned in protest, and Dori groaned as well, trying to grip onto my wrists. My left shoulder hurt the most, and I hoped that it would hold out. I'd already dislocated it twice from horse riding accidents, so it was naturally weak.

"No!" I heard Balin yell and I tried to figure out what was going on, but I couldn't see because I was upside and hanging over a large drop. Balin's exclamation was followed by a war cry from Azog, and my stomach dropped when I heard that. It didn't take a genius to figure out the basis of what was going on. Azog must have attacked someone.

I heard a yell of pain that I recognised as Thorin's and I gritted my teeth, praying that our leader didn't die here. Not now. Not after all we'd been through. Not after all the times we had cheated death.

"Thorin! No!" Dwalin roared, confirming my worst suspicions. I looked down, my terrified eyes meeting those of Dori who looked just as scared.

I heard another cry of pain from Thorin and a cry of pain from a warg, meaning that the fight was still going. Yet another war cry joined the fray and it was softer and smaller than those of the dwarves, meaning it must have been Bilbo. Now both of them were in trouble.

I let out a loud gasp as my legs slipped a bit, lowering us ever closer to the drop that awaited us when we let go. "Hold on!" Dori yelled.

"I'm trying! We're not going to die! Not any of us! Not today! We can't!" I snapped back hysterically as my vision swam black, all the blood rushing to my head instead of my legs and my feet. The branch I had my legs around groaned and cracked, threatening to snap on us.

An orc screamed in the background and then it cut off suddenly, meaning that it must have been killed. I still held hope for Bilbo and Thorin, knowing that they were both strong and wouldn't die that easy. They couldn't die that easy. None of us could. We hadn't even gotten close to Erebor.

The war cries of more of the dwarves suddenly started up, moving away from us and towards where the earlier fighting had been going on. All hell broke loose. I heard more shouts, yelps and cries.

Suddenly I screamed in pain as all the muscles on my left shoulder contracted, and, with an audible pop, my shoulder was yanked out of place. The weight of the two dwarves had been too much for my already weak shoulder to hold onto for too long. I lost all control of the arm and my grip of Dori's left hand slipped, leaving him hanging by only one hand.

The pain was so intense that I could only hear the muffled cries of the two worried dwarves and the whines from Edbert, but I couldn't make out what they were saying. I held my breath as the first wave of pain washed over me, the muscles of my left arm and shoulder twitching. After a few seconds I left out a long shuddering breath, and I yelled, "Don't let go, Dori! It doesn't matter what happens, don't you dare let go! I won't forgive you if you do! I-I'll beat you stupid! You hear me! Don't you dare let go!"

It wasn't our grips that gave up first, it was the tree branch. With a sicking crack the branch snapped right off the tree, causing my legs to slip off we started falling. I screamed loudly, closing my eyes, and I tried to hold onto Dori's hand but his hand slipped out of my mine.

I shouted loudly as we fell, and I heard the cries of Ori and Dori join in with mine. I couldn't see them because everything was spinning too fast, and it was almost pitch black because of the fact it was night time. The only light was the fire that was back on the cliff side.

My screaming was cut off my body connected roughly with another solid surface, knocking the wind of my lungs. My left shoulder was jolted roughly and everything went black quickly with the pain that flooded my system.

When my dizziness cleared I noticed that I was moving through the air, lying on my stomach on the back of some large creature. I tightened my right fist and noticed that I was gripping onto a bunch of feathers. I was shocked into silence for a few seconds as the large bird flapped its wings.

I quickly wiggled up with practiced ease, swinging my legs around so that I was straddling its back like a horse. My limp left arm and shoulder yelled in protest but I just gritted my teeth and tried not to scream. When I was sitting up straight, I looked around and noticed that Ori and Doir had been caught by another large bird and now that I could see one clearly I realized that it was an eagle.

The wind whipped my hair in my face but I still turned around, looking to the cliff side and I saw a whole convocation of eagles around the cliff. For some reason they were helping us. And then it hit me. Edbert.

"Hey! Stop! Stop!" I screamed over the wind, tightening my legs around the eagle and sitting back like I was riding a horse. "My dog is back there! Please! I can't leave him!"

I wasn't sure if the eagle could hear me, but it screeched in displeasure as I tried to direct just like I directed horses when riding bareback with no bridle. When it didn't turn back, I slapped my good hand on its back, begging, "Please! Please! I can't leave him!"

I still couldn't tell if the eagle understood me or not, but for some reason it turned back around towards the cliff anyway. I had to lean with the turn, pressing myself close against its back so that I couldn't get blown off. Riding on the back of eagle was a lot like riding a horse, but you had a lot more wind resistance.

As we flew towards the cliff I watched in fascination as the eagles grabbed the wargs and orcs, throwing them off the side of the cliff and to their deaths. Some of the eagles even started picking up the dwarves, dropping them onto the back of other eagles.

When we got close to the tree, I spotted Edbert still standing on his branch, looking rather lost and scared. The eagle flew straight at the tree and at the last second it tilted up, flapping its wings to try and stop itself for a few seconds as it landed on the tree a few branches away from Eddy.

"Edbert! Come! Up!" I called to my dog and he hesitated, looking between the eagle and me in confusion. "Eddy, up!" This time he didn't hesitate, he jumped neatly across a few branches, launching himself up towards the back of the eagle.

I reached out with the right hand, grabbing onto his scruff and dragging him up onto the eagle right in front of me. Without waiting the eagle took off roughly again, diving straight off the side of the branch with its wings folded against its side. It dropped a few meters and I pressed myself and Eddy against its back so that we didn't get blown off. It then extended its wings, steadying itself on the air currents.

It took me a few seconds to rearrange Eddy so that he was sitting on the eagles back, right in front of me. I had my right arm resting along his side and crossing in front of his chest as my hand gripped the feathers of the eagle. My left arm was hanging by my side and was trying not to move it as much as I could. I was hoping that one of the dwarves knew how to relocated shoulders or I would have to try and do it myself.

* * *

The eagles flew for hours without stopping, staying grouped in their big flock. I would occasionally see the other dwarves on the back of the eagle's back, or held in their claws. Everyone seemed to be okay, other than Thorin who was being held limply in an eagle's claws. I was just hoping he wasn't dead.

My shoulder had turned into a dull throbbing ache, and the longer it stayed out, the more the muscles would stretch. The sooner I found someone to help me put it back in, the better. The first time I had ever dislocated my shoulder, I'd been exercising one of my Grandfather's foul tempered racers. The horse has a reputation for being pig headed, and my Grandfather thought I should be the one to work on him.

Everything was going well until the horse suddenly shied, pigrooted and launched me off. I'd landed on my shoulder and it popped straight out of place. I'd had to catch the horse, with my shoulder out, and lead it back to the stables. My Grandfather had met me there, and I explained to him what had happened.

He'd told me to suck it up, and then he put the horse away while he told me to sit down on a chair. It was always the horses first, he taught me that as well. When he came back, he took a look at my shoulder and told me I was whining for nothing and that he could easily fix it. And, without warning, he grabbed my arm, stretched it out, pushed and twisted it so that it slipped straight back. It hurt really bad, but it fixed it. That was my grandfather's form of tough love.

While I was lost in my musing the sun had started to rise as we continued to fly over the top of the mountains, and through valleys. Edbert had been well behave the whole time, and hardly even twitched. Although, it was probably fear that kept him in place rather than obedience.

The eagles all started to circle a small platform atop of a large peek, from a distance the shape of the large rock looked like a giant bear head. One by one the eagles started to drop off their passengers. The first to be put down was Thorin, who laid limply on the ground where he'd been set down.

"Please let him be okay, _please_," I whispered as I stared at the rock formation. One by one the others were dropped off, I was one of the last to be let off. My eagle landed on the platform, and as soon as it stopped, Edbert jumped off onto solid ground. I carefully slid off, like dismounting a horse, grunting as my left arm was jarred.

Before I walked off, I rested my right hand against the eagle's shoulder and I mumbled, "Thank you, for everything. Thank you." I then quickly hurried over to the dwarves, hobbit and wizard that were gathered around Thorin.

I stopped next to Bilbo just in time to see Thorin open his eyes and whisper, "The Halfling?" A let out a soft sigh of relief when I saw that he was alive, and I brought my right arm up to grip my left arm. Eddy sat lazily by my side, eyeing the eagles as they flew around our rock.

"It's alright," Gandalf reassured him. "Bilbo is here. He's quite safe."

With a grunt Thorin pulled himself back up to his feet with the help of Kili and Oin, and he turned to where Bilbo and I were standing. I couldn't help but send him a wide grin, glad that he was all in one piece. Bilbo seemed more unsure than I did, and he glanced nervously at me.

"You," Thorin grunted, staring at Bilbo. "What were you doing? You nearly got yourself killed!" Bilbo looked helplessly at me and I sent him a confused looked, not really sure what Thorin was talking about. Thorin then started to walk towards us. "Did I not say that you would be a burden? That you would not survive in the wild? That you had no place amongst us?" I frowned, about to open my mouth and snap at Thorin again, but he continued before I could. "I have never been so wrong in all my life."

I stepped to the side in shock when Thorin stepped forward, scooping Bilbo up in a big bear hug. The poor hobbit looked like a frozen rabbit, and I couldn't help but let my jaw drop a little. Thorin had just admitted he was wrong and he had hugged Bilbo.

The dwarves started cheering in the background, glad that Thorin had finally accepted Bilbo into our group. I couldn't help the sappy smile that crossed my face, I was just so happy that Bilbo had finally been recognized and accepted into the group. He'd been trying so hard, he deserved it.

Thorin held the hug for a second before stepping back and resting both of his hands on the hobbit's arms. "I am sorry I doubted you."

"N-No, I would have doubted me too," Bilbo admitted awkwardly as Thorin removed his hands. "I'm not a hero. I'm not a warrior. I'm not even a burglar."

Some of the dwarves chuckled at the last statement.

"And you," Thorin turned to face me and it was my turn to freeze. The last time I'd said anything to him, I'd been screaming at him like a hysterical harpy.

"I'm _so_ sorry about yelling at you before!" I gushed, my face heating up.

"No," Thorin interrupted. "You were the one that was right, Miss Scott. Both Bilbo and you have been trying very hard for our sake." I blinked. He'd finally said my name. For the first time ever, he'd addressed me by my actual name. "I didn't think a woman would make it on such a perilous quest, but I was wrong about that too." His eyes trailed down to my limp arm that I was gripping. "Your arm…"

"Dislocated shoulder," I admitted sheepishly. "It's not the first time this has happen. Umm, do any of you know how to put a shoulder back into place?"

Thorin sent me an exasperated look and Ori started to panic and stutter, "I'm so sorry, Miss Scott! That is all my fault! I'm sor-"

"Ori!" I laughed, holding up my right hand to get him to stop. "It's okay. It was an accident. Don't worry, it hardly hurts."

"I can set it for ya, lass," Bofur called, walking over to me. "Ya might want to sit down. Do ya want something to bite down on?"

I nervously did as he said and I Eddy laid down next to me, setting his head in his lap. "No, I know what to expect. I'm fine."

"I'll hold her down," Fili piped up, appearing behind me as he placed his hands on my shoulder to make sure I didn't jump up.

I frowned in indignation. "I don't need to be held do-" I gasped and jumped as Bofur grabbed my left arm and started to lift it up. Fili's grip on my right shoulder tightened, making sure that I didn't go anywhere.

"This is going to hurt," Bofur cautioned as he got my arm into position.

"I know," I gritted out, my face going pale. "So long as you get it in one go, I'm happy."

"Relax your muscles," he intrusted as I did as he said. "Did you want me to count to three?"

"No, that's n-" I didn't get to finish my sentence before he'd already twisted my arm and pushed down on it so that it jerked back into its socket. I gasped loudly in pain, my whole body going rigged as my senses were flooded with pain for a few seconds. I held my breath, making sure I didn't scream, and relief washed over my body next. Now that my shoulder was back in place, the pain was gone, leaving only sore muscles.

"Ya okay there, Lass?" Bofur asked as he lowered my arm to my side, and Fili removed his hands off my shoulder.

I blinked and rolled my shoulder, testing it out. "Yes, I'm fine. Thank you, Mr. Bofur. You're good at that."

Gloin laughed, "She's a tough one, didn't even scream. Not many full grown men can do that." The other dwarves cheered and I blushed.

Suddenly, the eagles that had been circling out little platform flew off with one last cry. We all turned to watched them go and I lifted Eddy's head out of my lap and stood back up.

"Is that what I think it is?" Bilbo asked and I looked to where he and Thorin were staring. Thorin started walking towards the edge of the platform, looking towards where the sun was rising. Everyone followed him to see what he was looking at.

"Erebor," Gandalf confirmed. "The Lonely Mountain. The last of the great dwarf kingdoms of Middle Earth."

I stared at the tiny mountain way off in the distance, and a sense of accomplishment washed over me. I could finally see our goal. We were almost there.

"Our home," Thorin whispered proudly.

"A raven!" Oin pointed out as a small bird flew past out head in the direction of the mountain. "The birds are returning to the mountain."

"That, my dear Oin, is a Thursh," Gandalf corrected with a smug grin.

"Well, we'll take it as a sign," Thorin said with a smile. "A good omen."

"You're right, I do believe the worst is behind us," Bilbo agreed optimistically.

* * *

*****PLEASE READ*****

**To anyone that gets this far - thank you for reading my story! ^^ As you can see, this is the end of the first movie. Unfortunately, I won't be continuing this story until the next movie comes out in December. Sorry guys~ **

**Thank you for putting up with Scott, Edbert and me so far! I hope that you'll keep reading my story when the next movies comes out! **


End file.
